


Camellia's Patina

by Kuromori (Charred_Ground), sumire (sometimesafangirl)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alchemy, Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Bottom Lance (Voltron), Complete, Crossdressing, Historical, M/M, Meiji Era, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Slow Burn, Steampunk, Top Keith (Voltron), Top Lance (Voltron), Unrequited Crush, hanakotoba, klance, reverse couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-03-10 17:46:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 192,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13506639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charred_Ground/pseuds/Kuromori, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sometimesafangirl/pseuds/sumire
Summary: Set within a Steampunk style mid Meiji Era Japan. Keith and Lance form a bond under unexpected and unusual circumstances. Things are never as they seem and the Voltron group ends up involved in more than they signed up for. *Warnings will change please see notes*Written before season 7 and the Shiro’s sexuality reveal.





	1. Carnation

**Author's Note:**

> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Carnation** _Kaneshon カーネーション_ \- Fascination/distinction/love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Safe and Warm** ](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk8_xZZHN_4/?taken-by=crazycookiemaniac)  
>  Art completed by: [Crazycookiemaniac](http://crazycookiemaniac.tumblr.com/)

“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Keith growled under his breath before it hitched into a gasp. “Easy! Don’t cut me in ha-ALF! Damnit Shiro!” The final tug on the obi nearly toppled Keith to the floor, but at least the torture was over. 

He turned to the in the mirror, his eyes narrowing. He didn’t know the woman staring back at him. The white paint on her face and her blood red lips made the black liner around her eyes more severe. Her raven hair, piled up on her head, remained in place thanks to wax and the elegant engineering of several gilded hair pins. They dangled down to his shoulders with bronze and silver wisteria blossoms hanging from fine wires. A slender neck of pale skin teased from sheets of stiff fabric. Silken layers cascaded over her narrow shoulders. The outer snow colored kimono was interwoven with blue and silver wings. The etchings reached from the center back down to the belling sleeves of the furisode kimono.

“Because you’re short enough to not look like a man.” The woman glowered down at the man still fussing with the clothing and making sure there was just the right touch of flare. Most women would give anything to be in Keith’s place right now. Most women would sell their soul to be given the honor of just wearing one of the famous Shirogane kimonos. Keith would give anything to be out of it. 

“Should I be insulted?” Keith arched a red painted eyebrow.

“I owe the house a favor. It’s my fault Mihoko is sick.” Keith caught Shiro’s subtle smirk, and his glower became a full glare. He knew Shiro had a horrendous cold last week, and he knew damn well how Mihoko came down with the same aliment. 

“I don’t see how this is my problem.” Keith crossed his arms in a huff.

“They’re performing tonight, and you’re the only one who can play a koto.” Takashi Shirogane mumbled around the pins in his mouth.

“Because you made me learn it!” Keith slumped into an unladylike pose and was quickly punished by a tug on the already tight obi.

“Learning a traditional instrument like the koto helps you learn patience. I had to do something. No matter how many times I tried to sink that lesson into your skull, you never retained it. So, this is your punishment.” Shiro pinned the last part of the kimono into place. He had to rework a few sections of the cloth, being that Keith’s body was certainly not female. However, with the new modifications even Shiro felt like he could be fooled. 

Shiro stepped back to admire his work and blinked. He’d never say it out loud but with the right makeup Keith looked astonishing. He had sharper features than most women, but it added to his mysterious appeal. He looked exotic. His violet eyes, large and angled, appeared sensual rather than innocent. Worlds of hidden delights were at his mercy, and all one had to do was follow. Shiro might have done too good of a job.

“You’d have to be an idiot to fall for this.” Keith’s rough dialect broke the illusion instantly. 

“It should work just fine. No one will notice. Just keep your mouth shut.” It was the closest Shiro would go to saying anything. It was best not to add insult to injury in regard to Keith’s pride. “Besides it’s a bunch of tourists out there tonight; they’re not going to know the difference.”

“At least there’s that. Otherwise a Korean maiko might cause an uproar.” Keith stuck his tongue out. He’d grown immune to the xenophobic culture, but immunity didn’t mean ignorance.

“Hey now.” Shiro sighed and shook his head before using his finger to gently reapply the lipstick. “You’ve been living in this country long enough.”

“Yeah, long enough to know better. Your family isn’t like everyone else’s, Shiro.” Keith pouted, thankful for the white face paint as it hid his blush as Shiro’s finger stroked over his lower lip. He jumped off the standing block, grunting at the weight of the fabric on his arms. 

“They don’t have to be exactly like mine, otherwise mine wouldn’t be so special.” Shiro smiled with a wink. 

“Yeah. Whatever.” Keith tucked his hands into the flowing sleeves. Protests aside, he’d do anything Shiro asked of him, even this. It wasn’t the first time, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. He owed Shiro and his family everything. They took him in and raised him. Even after Shiro’s father died, he never blamed Keith. He simply took over where his father left off. If he had to put on a show once in a while, so be it. What was the harm? 

\-----

“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Lance mumbled as he tried to sink more into himself. He was seated amongst others of his unit, but he absolutely did not want to be here. He really didn’t want to be anywhere, but especially not in some entertainment house, pretending to have a good time. He glanced at his best friend out of the corner of his eye, grumbling more at the stupidly happy look on his face. He knew Hunk was just trying to cheer him up by insisting they came with the rest of the boys to this performance, but Lance didn’t feel like he wanted to be cheered up. He wanted to remain in their room and sulk about being passed over for the job he had been working his ass off to get.

“Aww come on man. You needed to get out. You’ve been miserable since this morning.” Hunk grinned at Lance and threw his arm around his shoulder. “I’ve never seen you sulk for more than three minutes, so all day was too much for me.” 

“But all I want to do is sulk, idiot. I don’t want to be out where people can see me and mock me for getting shut out.” Lance sighed and bowed his head. His army uniform was something he was normally proud of, but right now all he wanted was to rip it off and never wear it again.

“Well then shut up and sulk here. Just don’t be a jerk.” Hunk mumbled and pulled his arm back from Lance’s shoulder. “Hey man, I just thought it might be good for you. I figured we could go to one of the bars or something after. We are on leave for a while, right? We may as well enjoy it?”

“Oh, and are you going to be able to enjoy it when you’re sticking to me?” Lance shook his head and looked at him, sighing. “Hunk. I appreciate it. I really do, but I don’t want you to try to force yourself to take care of me. I’ll be fine eventually. I just want to mope about it a bit.”

“Fine fine.” Hunk shook his head and settled himself down. It was amazing how such a big guy could sit on the floor so comfortably, but Hunk wasn’t nearly as bothered by the awkward seating as Lance was.

Lance shifted a little and crossed his legs, letting out a slight sigh when his muscles stopped protesting so much. They hadn’t been anywhere like this yet, so Lance wasn’t used to it. He preferred the bars and the shops that had tables and benches. The places where he could relax for a moment rather than move and sit stiffly. This place was not at all comfortable. Well, Lance knew his discomfort stemmed from his bad day, and not from the room itself. Tatami and wood. Brass lanterns hung off rafters, the tiny flames flickering and providing just enough light for the room to feel cozy. 

Lance rested his hands on his knees and closed his eyes, breathing evenly in an attempt to at least lift his mood enough to keep from scowling the entire night. At the very least, that wasn’t fair to the performers they were here to see.

When he heard the other boys murmuring, he opened his eyes and looked over at the raised floor that was supposed to be the stage. Women dressed in the most elaborate kimono were getting settled for the performance. Lance’s eyes locked on the one in the back, playing whatever that long floor instrument was. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Perfect lips, soulful eyes, and a delicate frame. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad.

An older man sat down next to the unit. “You all from the base?” He asked in accented English. 

“Yup!” Hunk leaned over Lance and replied. More than happy to be their cheerful representative. He even took the mechanical arm in his hand and gave the Japanese man a friendly western welcome.

“Ah well I hope you enjoy it. If you have and questions do not be afraid to ask. I’m Takashi Shirogane.”

“Ah! You’re the guy who put this together!”

“Yes, well you can call me Shiro if it’s easier for you.” Shiro supplied a bit awkwardly. 

Lance tore his gaze away from the goddess on the stage when Hunk leaned over him to talk to the oddly tall Japanese man that sat next to him. His eyes searched the man’s face for a moment before they fell to that mechanical arm. 

“Lance, don’t stare.” Hunk elbowed him and smiled nervously at Shiro, but the older man just shook his head, so he relaxed.

“I’m used to it.” Shiro lifted the mechanical arm and the fingers moved, causing both soldiers to jump. “Not many people get to get a good look at it, so I don’t mind if you stare.”

Lance quickly shook his head. “It’s not that… I just… I need something like that. Where did you get it?”

“Um…” Shiro arched a brow at the foreigner, who clearly had both of his arms, and both clearly worked, given the way his hands were clutching his knees. 

Lance lifted his right arm and shook his head. “It…sometimes just stops working. I can’t control it at all, and…” He cut himself off when the group murmured again, and his eyes were instantly drawn to that woman in the back again.

“It’s a bullet wound. Got his tendons all messed up.” Hunk filled in the questions no one was asking. 

“Ah. Yeah. This was an accident at my old job, but there’s a family who runs a shop a few streets outside of Gion. I’ll get you the address.” Shiro smiled the followed Lance’s gaze. “The miako are amazing aren’t they?”

“Maiko?” Hunk asked.

“Apprentice geisha.”

“Ah…Thank you.” Lance answered absently, his voice soft, and his eyes still locked on that maiko, his hands gripping his knees once more. “Yes…Amazing. I’ve never seen anything like them before. So beautiful…”

Hunk chuckled and sat back to watch the performance. 

“They are. But they also come at a high price.” Shiro sat back and watched the women. Keith really did stand out, even in the back. He’d never let the guy know.

“How high?” Lance found himself whispering the question. His pulse quickened as he watched the woman play her instrument, her fingers gracefully plucking the strings. He never heard anything so beautiful in his entire life, and the sad expression on her face only made Lance more enamored with her.

Shiro gave the man a sympathetic smile. “Worry first about your arm friend. They are hired escorts. They’ll only lead to heartache for you.” He handed Lance a piece of paper. “Here are directions to the shop. Go there first, and if you really want to buy yourself a night with a one of the girls head back to Gion. The price will always very depending on which one you want.” 

Lance tore his gaze from the maiko and looked at Shiro. “Thank you…” He took the paper and tucked it into his uniform jacket. “I really hope it’ll help my arm…” He managed a little smile, though his eyes wandered back to the woman. He ignored the last part of Shiro’s comment. 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. I hope you can go out and experience more of Kyoto while you’re here.” Shiro whispered and smiled as the audience applauded, signaling the end of the first act and Keith’s freedom. 

Lance nodded absently as he clapped, still staring at his goddess. “I…I will definitely try to see more.”

“Well feel free to message me. I left contact information on there as well.” Shiro stood up. “I’m going to check on things backstage. Please enjoy the rest of the show. And when you make it to the shop tomorrow tell them I sent you.” 

“Thank you.” Lance nodded and looked at him as the women filed off the stage. He felt his shoulders slump. 

“Awww look at you. You made a friend off the base!” Hunk teased. “You actually gonna go check it out?”

When Lance saw that the women weren’t coming back, he turned to Hunk and nodded. “I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” He lifted his right arm a little, but the tension of the day seemed to be impacting it, and he winced a little as it fell back to his side. He flexed his fingers, but holding his arm up at this point was impossible. “Or…they’re going to kick me out and send me back home, won’t they? They’re already forcing me to take a longer leave than everyone else.” He frowned slightly. “They’re pushing me out.”

Hunk frowned. He hated to admit it, but Lance was right. He noticed their attitude toward Lance change dramatically over the last few months. Hunk was fine where he was. He didn’t need or want more responsibility than he had. His plan, since the beginning, was to wait until an opportunity opened up in engineering. Lance always wanted more. More fame. More glory. More adventure. More women. More money. 

“Would it be such a bad thing? Maybe a break is just what you need, ya know? Sort things out.”

“I guess.” Lance shook his head a little and looked around the room. His eyes locked on a well-dressed man who seemed to be running the place, and he nodded a little, more to himself than anything else. “Hey…Hunk.” He looked at his friend again. “I think I’m going to go back and go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be better, right?” 

“Eh?” Hunk blinked at how Lance suddenly just hopped up and walked towards some fancy looking, clearly not Japanese man. The conversation seemed rather animated, even though Lance barely moved his injured arm, but then his friend smiled a big smile, seemed to thank the other man, and practically skipped out of the establishment. “Huh…”

\-----

“Long night last night?” A small figure of a person grumbled lightly from where they worked. The counter looked like some obscene mechanical surgeon’s operation table. Oil dripped to the floor. Tiny engines and turbines littered the stained maple table in a menagerie of sizes and shapes.

“You could say that. I helped Shiro last night. It got late.” All around Keith clockwork ticked and canisters bubbled. Wires and pulleys ran in a constant flurry. They supplied oil, power, and food to all essential parts of the shop. Anything needed to keep things running at his fingertips. All the gadgets used to freak the young man out, but he considered himself lucky to even have a job. A lot of places in Kyoto were open to foreign money but not to foreigner employees, so work was hard to come by. 

The Italian owners of Volt-Tron needed help. Keith needed money and a shop to fix up his bike. The place offered both, even if he did little more than handle the front counter or sweep floors and draw up schematics.

“You gotta let that go. It’s literally a no man’s land with that guy.” 

“Pidge, you barely know him.” Keith leaned against the counter, casually ducking his head to make way for a strung up tea pot. “That… doesn’t seem safe.”

“I know him well enough. I knew his dad too.” Pidge said, grabbing the pot, filling the cup and hanging it back up with blind precision. 

“You were 7 when he died!” Pidge stood less than five foot two, and was no older than seventeen. Keith knew the mechanic almost his whole life.

“With the cognitive capabilities of a twenty year old.” Pidge countered. “And neither of those two guys would ever give you a second look as a romantic partner. Aren’t you a bit too old for childhood crushes?”

“Aren’t you a bit too short to see over the counter?”

\-----

Lance stood outside the shop, looking up at the sign, back down at the note Shiro had scribbled for him the night before, and then back up at the sign again. Vol-Tron. Foreign friendly. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, though that seemed impossible in the moment. But he straightened himself up, standing tall, confident, his uniform impeccable as he carefully pushed open the shop door. “Hello?” He blinked at the way the entire place seemed to live. Gears whirring, the smell of oil thick in the air. Everything just seemed alive.

He carefully stepped in, clutching that piece of paper in his hand and looking around for a counter or something. When he finally spotted the black-haired man, he felt a bit of relief wash over him. If he had to talk to a machine, he might just leave. So he steeled himself, and took slow, confident steps towards that man. A rather pretty man, actually. Lance blinked, surprised at that, but he shook that off and smiled softly. “Excuse me…I need some help, and a man named Shiro said I could find it here?” His Japanese wasn’t the best, but he tried, and while he was sure he didn’t say everything perfectly, he hoped his meaning got across.

“Shiro did?” Keith arched a brow to regard the customer. He appeared perturbed and looked beyond Lance. “The bell didn’t work again!” He yelled over to the small person at the counter before taking in the newcomer. From his accent Keith figured he’d had to be another American, but this guy didn’t look like the others. Most foreigners were white and wealthy. This guy was dark skinned and wearing a casual soldier’s getup. But then, who was he to judge? 

Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan ushered in all types of people who never stepped foot on the Japanese shores. Businesses all around Kyoto were in a boom and the ports flooded with wealthy investors and businessmen of all nationalities. The least popular being the American army base. They’d struck a deal to with the Meiji government to help quell any uprisings and were given a little plot of land just outside the western city.

“Well, depends. What kind of help did you need?” Keith leaned his elbows back on the counter, the posture open, inviting, yet a bit too casual. 

Lance’s eyes widened at the man leaning against the counter. He should have known that when Shiro said the place was foreign friendly, someone might have spoken something other than Japanese. So when the dark-haired man spoke to him in English, he visibly relaxed and his smile brightened. “Oh thank goodness.” He said before he straightened up a little. He glanced over at the other person behind the counter. Small, big glasses. Super intent on whatever work he? she? was doing? Lance honestly couldn’t tell if that person was a man or a woman, so he wasn’t going to try. The one in front of him though? Definitely a man, with slightly sharp features and a stern brow, but there was something soft about his face. And for a moment, Lance found him rather attractive, though nothing like his goddess the night before.

“My arm…” He started, then lifted his right arm. It worked well enough after a night’s sleep, but he could feel the tendons tightening when he lifted it. “I was shot on a mission, and while it healed, it hasn’t worked properly since. I saw Shiro’s mechanical arm and asked about it.” He blinked, then shook his head. “Obviously I don’t need a new arm, just something to help me move it. Is that possible?” 

“Anything is possible with the right motivation.” Came the slightly nasal voice of the person behind the counter. “Though medical stuff is more for my dad. He’s out right now but we can get the measurements.” 

Keith shook his head. “Come on. I’m Keith. That’s Pidge.” As he spoke he walked around to the other side of the counter, leaning over to dig some tools out of a drawer. Long black hair flowed down one shoulder, bunched together in a binder near the end, the bangs were kept out of his way by a pair of goggles securely fastened to the top of his head. Pidge’s head crowned a similar pair both in the mess of sandy hair and over the eyes. 

“Set your arm here.” Keith slipped a metal device on the counter. Numbers etched in scratches marked up the side and several indents and grooves made up the base. “Where’s the injury?”

Lance blinked at the way Keith moved. He had noticed the long hair before, but now that he was just a bit closer, he could see just how well-kept it was. Part of him wanted to reach out and touch it. It seemed so soft and inviting, but he also knew it was incredibly inappropriate. So he simply watched him move about.

He looked at the device Keith put on the counter. It was flat, with an adjustable piece that seemed to push the edges closer to whatever it was measuring. On one side were little metallic hoops, which Lance assumed were for placing fingers so that the measurements were even. “Ah…I was sniping at the time, and while it only grazed my forearm… the bullet went through my upper arm and damaged the tendon…” He looked down at the contraption again. “Should…I take my shirt off for this or…?”

Keith arched a brow and he didn’t have to look at Pidge to see the smirk on that elfin face. “You could, but we’re in front of the store. We don’t want people thinking we’re ‘that’ kind of shop.” Keith came back around to Lance’s side of the counter. “Can you just lift the shirt to one side and pull your arm out?” 

Lance looked down at his uniform. The long sleeves prevented him from pulling them up as high as he needed to. “I think so?” He loosened his tie and started to unbutton it, only getting to his stomach before he wormed around a bit and pulled his arm out of the open space. The scar on his forearm was a small, straight line that barely changed the tint of his skin, but the one on his upper arm was bad. A dark, circular mark where it was clear the bullet had entered and burned the flesh around it. He winced a little when he saw it, but he looked back to Keith. “Is this okay?”

“That’ll work.” Keith tossed a glare at Pidge. The little creep. Just because Keith happened to like men, it didn’t mean he was going to be attracted to every guy who walked in the door. No matter how in shape, dark skinned, or bright eyed they were. “Have a seat here.” Keith stepped up behind him. “I’m going to be getting a bit in your space. That okay?” 

Lance nodded and sat where indicated, looking over his shoulder at him and smiling. “Yeah, that’s ok.” He was never really bothered by people being too close. It stemmed from having a very close family. So he was completely relaxed even with his injured arm sticking awkwardly out of his half unbuttoned shirt. 

Keith’s touch was soft as he traced the scar with his finger tip. “Whelp, that is a nasty one.” He eye-balled the entry and exit wounds. “Missed an artery.” He hummed an approval and squeezed around Lance’s bicep. “Move your fingers. As well as you can, one at a time until I say stop.” He leaned over Lances his shoulder. His hair bind slipping over the other’s neck.

Lance did as he was told, remaining completely calm even though Keith’s touches were gentle, and he smelled of machine oil and faintly of exotic flowers and spices. “It hasn’t totally messed with my grip or movement in my hand. It just makes it very difficult to lift it without pain. Sometimes it’s mild, sometimes it’s excruciating. Sometimes I can’t lift it at all.” 

“I’m just trying to feel for your tendons.” Keith whispered, not wanting to yell by the customer’s ear, his violet eyes focused on his tan fingers. “Okay, move all your fingers into a fist and squeeze.”

Lance continued to follow Keith’s directions, though that whisper in his ear caused a spike of something to spark through him. He reminded himself that Keith was a guy. That he wasn’t normally attracted to guys. And that he was trying to meet that woman from the night before.

“Don’t be alarmed.” Keith gave a thin lipped smile. “Did something hurt?” His fingers slid down his hand to the bottom of Lance’s wrist. “Your pulse jumped.” 

“No. No it’s fine.” Lance smiled sheepishly. “It didn’t hurt. It actually feels better than it has in a long time.”

“Oh?” Keith grinned from the corner of his mouth. “That’s good. You’ll need to relax your muscles now.” He pressed is fingers in his skin, hitting the pressure points he knew would release any held in tension. “Then I’ll strap that scary looking thing around your arm, okay Soldier?” 

Lance nodded. “Yeah…Oh.” He still had that sheepish look on his face. “My name is Lance. Sorry. I got distracted earlier and didn’t introduce myself properly.” He shifted and seemed more relaxed than before thanks to the pressure on those points. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Part of my job, Lance. Since Pidge is worse with people than I am.” 

“People suck,” Pidge replied, looking back down at the gear box.

Keith shook his head and placed Lance’s arm into the contraption. “It might pinch and hurt a little. So I apologize for that.” He laid his fingers into each of the ringed divots, snapping them shut. “I’m going to ask you to do the same things you did before, and flex as much as you can.” He tightened a strap around Lance’s arm. “Okay. That should do it. Ready?” 

“People do suck…” Lance agreed, but then nodded a little. “It’s not any worse than being shot through the arm at least.” He turned his head to look at Keith, smiling just a bit. “Yeah.” The pinches and the pressure from the device didn’t bother him much, but then again he was used to much worse than what he was feeling now. Besides, he had oddly good company in this situation, and it almost made him feel better about being shot.

“I haven’t started yet.” Keith winced but hit a button. Instantly the brace puffed up and tiny metal needles pierced into the skin, forcing the muscles to bunch and cramp. He stepped away and out of the reach of any flinging limbs. 

Lance remained perfectly still as the device poked and pierced his flesh. His unhindered arm rested at his side, and he simply looked to Keith. “Yeah, getting shot is still much worse than this.” He managed a light grin.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never strapped myself in there.” Keith looked at a few dials and made a note here and there before he nodded his head, and tapped his foot. Instantly the machine settled down and released the soldier’s arm. “I’d recommend taking it easy the rest of the day. I’ll get the information over to Sam. He can quote you in probably a day or two? Normally it can take up to three to four weeks to build.” 

Lance nodded and pulled his arm from the device, slowly putting his shirt back on the proper way and buttoning it up. “All right. I’m…off for a while, so that should be fine.” He managed another little smile as he tied his tie. “We don’t have our own phones on the base, so would it be easier if I just came in and checked in here in a day or two? I don’t think the message would get to me properly otherwise.”

“If you want. I can’t make a promise it will be ready by then, Sam has a few projects up in que already. But if you want.” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “Pidge or I will be here.”

“Both most likely. We’re always here.” Pidge offered from the desk, and finally making eye contact with Lance. The goggles over the face magnifying those honey brown irises tenfold. 

Lance smiled at Keith, then at Pidge. “Thank you. Is there any way it can get done a little faster?” Lance finished tying his tie, his lips pursing a bit. “I can pay more if that’ll help.”

Keith cocked his head a little to side. “He’s a got a few projects before this. If he thinks he can go faster, he will. If not he won’t.” Keith turned his back and finished putting the equipment away. “Money isn’t the issue.”

Lance couldn’t help but snort. Of course Keith didn’t know just how important this was. He didn’t know that Lance’s entire life might have depended on this. “No? I have more than enough. Unless it’s not an issue because it’s not good enough? I need this quickly. I’ll pay double or even triple to make that happen.”

Keith ground his teeth. So that’s what was going on. Some rich American brat was just going to buy his way into whatever he wanted? “I don’t know what you’re used to. But that’s not how this shop works. So you can just take your money and sh-“ Keith’s mouth was instantly covered by a small bad tasting hand. 

“We’ll talk to my dad and see what we can do.” Pidge offered with a polite smile. “No promises though, but it can’t hurt to ask.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed slightly at Keith, but his expression softened when Pidge spoke. “All right. I’ll come back and check in.” He nodded slightly to the bespectacled mechanic and turned, snorting a bit once more at Keith before he walked out of the shop, muttering under his breath.

Keith growled in the back of his throat. “What the hell Pidge?”

“Hey, money is money.” Pidge shrugged slender shoulders. “No matter how you feel about it. “

“And he just throws it around and people are supposed to do whatever he wants?” Keith snarled. “Some people bust their asses to treat themselves to something nice. Or just to live and there he is acting like it’s nothing.”

“Some people are just lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to do with. Everything is controlled.” 

“Keith, stop. We all are aware how the system works.” Keith blinked and bowed his head like a scolded child. “Instead, run this delivery to Coran.”

“I don’t want to go back there. After last night.” 

“Why? What happened? You have been off since last night. Something happen?” Pidge placed a hand on Keith’s arm. 

“N-nothing. I’ll go.” Keith took the box sitting on the counter. It rattled and plinked. 

“Just replacements for a few of their fixtures.”

“Okay.” Keith wrapped his scarf more securely around his neck. “I might hop over to Shiro’s after. So feel free to leave the lights on. I’ll come in and make sure to lock everything up.”

Pidge was already working on the project left on the workbench. With a wave of a hand, Keith was dismissed.

\-----

Keith sighed as he stepped out into the street. He had no desire to go back to the performance house. After last night he wished for distance, but just because he wished for something, it didn’t mean it would happened. He strapped the box onto his back and clipped the shoulders in place before he started on his way. 

He loved Kyoto at night. With the sky in twilight and the mixture of paper lanterns and gas lamps a warm yellow and green wove together to create an eerie glow. Horse drawn carriages were still all the rage but as stone roads became more and more predominant Keith figured they would get upgraded too. Right now, the dirt streets and thick population made electric carriages unsafe for the growing city. 

He continued down the next block, ignoring the savory smells of hot pots simmering in the open air restaurants and the sweet perfume of baking pastries. It all made Keith’s stomach roil. Normally he would have stopped, but he wanted to rip the bandage off the delivery and get as far from the Okiya as humanly possible. 

He stopped before the elaborate front gates of the geisha house. Tall white mortar walls reached a good two feet above his head, and black wood gate stood in front of him with European style metal works swirling and looping around the painted cypress. Keith raised a hand to knock but before his hand made contact with the door he was greeted quickly by the property owner. “C.. Coran!?” 

The redhead beamed when he saw Keith. “Just the man I was heading out to see!” He said, his voice hadn’t lost the British inflection even after being in this country for over 30 years. Slender gloved fingers pulled at one side of his bushy mustache as he appraised the shorter man. The hair on the back of Keith’s neck bristled. “Well, let’s get that delivery settled first, and then you and I can talk.”

“Talk?” Keith blinked up at the lanky man. He removed his shoes and stepped into the entry, his feet slipping slightly on the polished wood floor. “What are we talking about?”

“A tremendous opportunity to make a lot of money.” Coran didn’t seem to skip a beat as he led Keith through the hall and to his office, opening the door for him and waiting patiently. “One that…I don’t think you should turn down.”

“How much are we talking about here?” Keith arched a brow. Numbers first the numbers were all that mattered.

“That depends on you. The exact amount I was given was…” Coran cleared his throat and spoke again. “Any amount asked. Money is no object.”

“Sounds familiar.” Keith mumbled. “Well, what do you need me for if the person was asking you?”

“Well, they were enamored with you last night, and they would like to meet you.” Coran looked him over. “Well not you as you are now, but you as you were when you played the koto. He said he never heard or saw anything so beautiful.” 

“Me? Last night? The koto? Or for the love of- no. Absolutely not. No.” Keith folded his arms across his chest. “In case you or Shiro have gone senile. I. AM. A. GUY. How many languages should I say it in? Otoko. Man. Namja. Nanren.” 

“Of course you’re a guy. No one’s asking you to marry some lovesick man.” Coran threw his arms up. “But smitten men open their wallets very easily. All it takes is a little smile here, maybe a touch of the hand there.” He arched a brow. “And if this one had any idea you were a man, he wouldn’t have begged me to meet you.”

“Coran… that sounds a bit immoral. And by a bit I mean a lot.”

“Immoral shimmoral. It’s money.” Coran waved his hand dismissively.

“What did Shiro say about it?” Keith looked up from where he started to fidget with the end of his scarf.

“I didn’t talk to Shiro yet. It’s your decision to make isn’t it? Besides, you know what Shiro’s answer would be.” Coran watched him, one brow arching. 

“He’d say it was too dangerous. That he wouldn’t allow me to do it. That I should use my head.” Keith’s teeth started grinding. “That it was the wrong way to make money. Even though he was the one who pushed me out there because Maihiko or whoever was sick.” As pale as Keith’s cheeks were, a flustered blush crossed over his nose. 

Coran’s brow remained arched. “Is that really what his answer would be? Does he really think you can’t defend yourself against one man?” He conveniently ignored the second part to Keith’s response. 

An image of last night flashed in Keith’s eyes. A drunken idiot grabbing him and pressing him up against the wall. His arms bound by the layers of a kimono Shiro forced him in. Keith had been ready to kick out. He didn’t need to panic because he knew he could take the guy, but along came Shiro. He took out the trash then scolded Keith the whole walk home, as if he were some kid. “Who cares what Shiro thinks. He’s not my guardian. I don’t live with him. I can do whatever I want. So,” Keith sat back in the chair, his arms crossing his chest. “I’ll do it. How much we talkin’ here?” 

“How much do you want?” Coran smiled brightly. “How many hundreds? It honestly depends. He said if he could meet you tonight, that would be ideal. But it’s short notice. Should I turn him away when he arrives?” Neither man seemed bothered by that fact that Coran was only the landlord here, but they both knew the Okaasan rather well. Chances were she’d be more amused by all this than anything.

“Well, what’s normal? I mean what does he think he’s getting?” Keith arched a brow up. “What’s typical? Fifty? A hundred?” Keith swallowed hard. He didn’t want to be greedy but with that kind of money he’d be closer to fixing the air-bike. Not to mention all the other things he could do! 

“Hm.” Coran twisted his mustache and nodded slightly. “Fifty sounds about right. But with his eagerness, and the fact that I had to set this up last minute, I can easily get two hundred for him tonight. After that, a hundred each. I would take a small cut, of course, but it would still be well worth your time.”

If Keith hadn’t already been sitting, he would have needed a chair. “Tonight? That much? Just for talking to some guy? Heh.” Keith pushed a hand through his hair. It wasn’t right. He knew it wasn’t right, but that was a lot of money. A lot of money from a guy who didn’t need it. A guy who could afford all the air bikes and horseless carriages he could ever want. A guy who probably made his money cheating people like Keith. “I’ll do it. Message him back. Tell him I’ll do it.” 

“Excellent!” Coran clapped his hands together. “You better start getting ready then.” He grinned just slightly. “The girls will help you. I will get a message to your client. I’m sure he’ll be more than eager to respond.”

“Perfect. Oh! And Coran. Get the money up front. Just in case he grows wise.” Keith grinned before he hopped over the back of his chair and strut out of the room. 

Funny thing about confidence. It was a fleeting thing. Keith acted tough as nails down in Coran’s office but now he was sitting in the guest room, legs bent under him on a tatami floor, and all evidence of his manhood hidden under makeup and silk. Guilt settled in on him. He impulsively said yes to the deception. Coran played him and Keith danced right to his tune. 

Keith sighed and shifted, pulling at the red and pink kimono. One of Shiro’s most likely. The embroidery was impeccable, and the depiction of cherry blossoms looked as if they could come to life. In fact, Keith scrutinized, some of them were real! A mesh as fine as a spider’s thread allowed petals to move and shift along the fabric. The meshing collected a static charge from the build-up of the shifting clothing in the dry winter air and released it into the blossoms making them bounce and sway as Keith himself moved. 

The hair combs glittered in the lamplight. Gems of reds, pinks and violets chosen to accent his eyes, his lips and added to the touch of shadow over each of his lids. A golden netting covered his hair, with tiny blossoms on each adjoining square. These also glinted with their own unoppressive light. Something to be appreciated from the corner of your eye and then invisible to the straight on gaze. 

“Your guest has arrived.” A child’s voice came from outside the door. She announced the arrival of the man, waiting for permission to open the sliding door and allow the paying customer in. 

“Thank you, please allow him in.” As the door slid open Keith folded his hands over each other and pushed them out in front of himself bowing deeply. 

There was some soft whispering from the child to the man before he stepped up into the tatami-laden room. His eyes widened at the prone figure of the woman he had come to revere the night before. Lance shifted nervously, fixing the tie on his formal uniform before he carefully knelt before the bowing figure, his hands resting on his knees, mostly to keep himself steady because kneeling Japanese-style was not his forte. He found himself staring at the way her hair seemed to shimmer in the light of the lantern. He was completely in awe.

“Good Evening, my Lord. Thank you for allowing me the honor the spend the evening with you.” Slowly he pulled himself up to greet the poor idiot and for just a second the white mask cracked. His jaw slacking. Lance.

“Good Evening.” Lance managed, his eyes widening at the woman’s expression. Was she shocked because he was a soldier? Because he was dark skinned? Was it bad? He looked down at himself. “I’m sorry…I suppose you were expecting some eloquent businessman?” Well, with his badly accented Japanese, he was the furthest from eloquent.

“No, forgive me.” Keith bowed again keeping his tone soft. “I’ve never seen someone who looked like you before. I forgot myself.” Keith lifted his head. “Your Japanese is very good, but would you feel more comfortable if I spoke in English?” He smiled, making sure the gesture made it to his eyes.

“A…Ah. Yes.” Lance nodded his head, his cheeks flushing. She was even more beautiful up close, and he could hear his heart pounding in his chest. “Thank you…for being kind. My Japanese is not as good as you say, but I appreciate you sparing my feelings.” He managed a little smile, his fingers pressing into his knees as though that would keep him steady. How was it possible for one person to look like the moon had been plucked from the sky and given life?

Keith swallowed back the building nausea. He couldn’t believe people actually talked so formally. Part of Keith was worried Lance would start spouting sonnets and Keith’s mask would crack into bouts of laughter. “It is no problem. They started teaching English at the start of the restoration when Emperor Meiji ascended the throne. It is no trouble for me, and if it eases you I am happy to do it.”

“Thank you.” Lance visibly relaxed, though his cheeks were still pink. “And thank you for agreeing to meet me.” He started laughing slightly, pulling on his tie to loosen it. “I’m really nervous for some reason. Sorry!”

“Do not be. I would like for you to be relaxed while you are with me.” Keith tilted his head. “Would you care for sake?”

“Okay.” Lance shifted a little before he nodded a bit. He smiled awkwardly. “Is it okay if I sit differently? This kind of hurts…”

Keith lifted his hand to hide a small laugh. “Please sit comfortably, mister…. Umm? Forgive me. What shall I call you?”

Lance let out a puff of air as he sat back and crisscrossed his legs. He relaxed more and smiled a little. “You can call me yours…” He whispered before he perked up. “Sorry. I’m Lance.” His smile brightened. “What about you? They were weird when I asked for your name.”

Keith blinked a few times, large eyes wide. Was this guy honestly this stupid or was he just acting that way? He shrugged away the confusion and hid his thoughts with a gentle laugh. Every part of the act controlled and deliberate. “My name is Keiko.” Keith bowed his head again, a self-satisfied smirk hidden from Lance’s view. 

Lance’s smile remained on his face. “Keiko.” He could feel the heat on his cheeks, and he watched his companion with a giddy nervousness that he had never felt before. “That’s really beautiful. It suits you.”

Keith felt a tiny flush on his cheeks but he forced it down. “May I?” He held his hand out for Lance to give him his.

Lance blinked, but he held out his right hand for her, looking down to make sure it wasn’t trembling. He could feel the tendon in his arm tighten, but he kept his expression light. 

Keith scooted himself closer. “Here, it is written like this.” He moved his finger over Lance’s palm to make the first kanji in the name. “It means Jeweled Child.” He turned his head up and gave Lance a mischievous smile. 

Lance stared at her, his eyes wide. The blush on his cheeks had spread to his ears. “O…Oh.” He whispered and leaned in a little closer. “That’s…I mean…You’re honestly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’ve never…” He shifted a little and touched her hand. 

Keith tilted his head up, his eyes locked by his gaze. It was terrifying. Lust he could handle. Desire he could easily laugh off, but the there was something softer and sadder in those eyes. Keith’s guilt come back, weighing down his stomach. “I, should pour the sake, Lancesan.”

“It can wait, can’t it?” Lance took her hand and leaned in more. “Keiko…I…” The feelings welling up inside him were overwhelming. Here he was, sitting with the most beautiful woman in the world, her face close to his. Her perfect lips having just uttered his name. It was too much, and he leaned in to kiss her.

It happened too fast. Impulse overrode thought. Keith wouldn’t have noticed it occurring if not for the warm tingle in his own hand and growing red hand print on Lance’s awkwardly turned cheek. The idiot was lucky a slap was all he got. He’d opened his fist at the last second sparing them both from dealing with Lance’s broken jaw. So now he sat there, pulled away to cower against the fall wall. Still trying to play the part of the delicate maiko. His eyes wide while his brows furrowed in controlled anger. 

And with that, Keith was sure his dealings with this American boy would be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please Reblog, share, kudo and/or comment! We love hearing from readers! Please keep criticisms constructive and not destructive.
> 
> The story's rating will change as we move through the chapters. We are aware that not everyone enjoys reading smut so we will try to work around preferences. Explicit chapters and scenes will be clearly marked and for those that do not wish to read, we will supply a brief summary of any plot (if necessary) that occurred. 
> 
> **Language/Culture Note** maiko are geisha in training. It is perfectly possible to see an interpretive dance demonstration on a main stage right outside Gion where maiko and geisha perform for large audiences. For a few extra yen a guest will be treated to a traditional tea ceremony. Gion is a part of Kyoto and is historically preserved. 
> 
> [ This is a Koto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01v4fttX8sM)


	2. Jasmine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Jasmine** _Jasumin ジャスミン_ \- Friendly/Graceful
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)

There was a loud crack, and Lance’s head turned sharply to the side. The skin of his cheek burning with the sensation of blood rushing to where Keiko’s hand had slapped him only moments before. His eyes slowly widened as he turned his head back towards her, and his lips parted to let out some sort of sound, but all of it stopped in his throat when he saw that angry expression directed at him. He thought that a kiss would have been okay. He thought…he didn’t know what he actually thought, or why he thought it. The guilt and shame immediately came over him, and his eyes stung as they filled with tears.

How embarrassing. He mistook this for something else. He should have asked about how this sort of thing worked. He paid for companionship, which back home, or in other places, meant something completely different than what it clearly meant here. He overstepped, and he angered the goddess sitting in front of him.

The worst part was that it wasn’t the first time today he messed up so royally, and as he mentally berated himself for being so stupid and so culture blind, those tears fell from his eyes. “I…” He managed, lifting his left hand to cover his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see that angry expression, and also hoping to hide his tears as best as possible. His right hand clenched into a fist to keep his fingers from trembling. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his voice trembling. 

“Eh?” Keith blinked, lifting charcoal lined eyes in confusion. Of all the things Lance could have done, he started to cry. Keith’s ability to handle tears went right up there with his ability to deal with people, babies, spiders, or fermented soy beans. All three managed to make him anxious, stutter, and want to run like hell in the opposite direction.

“T- this is not that kind of place! If you want that, it’s two streets down..” Keith kept his voice stern. “Westerners always think Maiko and Geisha are like your western prostitutes. They are no such thing!” 

“You’re right…” Lance’s voice continued to tremble. “You’re right…I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid and horrible, and I was wrong.” He tried to stop his tears, but he kept that hand over his eyes since they just did not seem to be stopping. He was mortified. He was a grown man! He had been through so much worse than this. He didn’t even cry when he got shot, and here he was unable to control his tears because he was just so ashamed of himself. “I don’t know what I was thinking…I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

“I-it is okay.” Keith’s brows furrowed up. Maintaining his righteous fury proved impossible in the wake of the soldier’s tears. He hovered his hand in the space above Lance’s shoulder. He needed him to stop crying. The severity of Lance’s reaction outgrew hardness of his slap. 

“L-look. It was a mistake, right?” A small voice in the back of Keith’s head started to rant and rave at him, telling him to leave things be. To let him believe Keith hated him. Keith remembered those lonely blue eyes, and the sadness filling them, and he lost courage.

“You learned your lesson. Right?” Keith lowered his head down so Lance could see his face. “Calm down. Here.” He got up and poured a glass of water, bringing it back down to the sobbing soldier. “Take a few breaths and drink this.”

“But it’s not okay.” Lance slowly pulled his hand away from his eyes and looked at her, the shame so evident in his eyes as they shimmered with his tears. He took the glass with his left hand and held it, trying to calm himself down before he took a sip. She could have poisoned him right now, and he would have been fine with it because he deserved it.

“I…It was a mistake. I’ve been making them all day, and I can’t apologize enough. I’m not normally like this. I’m not so stupid and ignorant…” He bowed his head and sighed. 

Hesitantly Keith patted Lance’s back. “I mean, just a kiss. You don’t have to beat yourself up over it.” His natural dialect started to override the formal intonation he’d been using.

“I just assumed…” Lance shook his head and looked at her. “And…I mean it’s not just that. I was a jerk this morning when I didn’t mean to be, and I ended up behaving very badly because I was in a bad mood. I’m not normally in a bad mood, and I don’t know how to act around people when I am…” 

Keith tilted his head as he settled himself back down on the floor, his legs curling up beside him. “This morning? I am sure it is nothing to cry over. You are human.” Keith’s inner voice raged. 

“Humans make mistakes. You are far from home. Far from your family. You are stationed at the American, base but you are not from the U.S., right? You do not look it, and your English is accented, I’ve never heard.”

Lance blinked, his tears finally stopping. “I…No I’m not from the States. I’m from Cuba.” He sighed and slumped a little, bowing his head. “My family…is very wealthy, but I’ve never really felt the need to use or flaunt that before. But today…Today I was a jerk to people who didn’t deserve it because I got frustrated.” He put the glass of water down carefully and rested his left hand on his right arm, gripping it slightly. “I was shot a little while ago. It messed up my arm really badly.” His brows furrowed. “And yesterday, my boss told me I was useless because of it. Everyone’s on leave, but he told me I have to stay on leave longer, until I find some worth…”

He frowned and looked at Keiko. “And…if I can’t do that in a month, he’s sending me away. I thought I was going to get promoted. I worked my ass off to get that new job. I never took time off. I worked overtime, but because I was shot, someone blamed a failed mission on me, and I got put on leave…” He bowed his head again. “So, I got scared and impatient, and tried to use my money to push something I don’t think I really deserve…But I don’t want to be sent away. They’ll likely send me to some barely charted island, if they even keep me in the army at all. If they discharge me…My family will be so disappointed in me…” He felt a little better letting it all out, but he also felt worse admitting it.

Keith stared forward as Lance told his story. The angry voice tamed to a whisper. Guilt twisting in his gut became a series of hateful knots. Shiro always told him everyone had a story. Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things. There’s never an easy way sort them out until you’re forced to make a choice, and those choices are based on perspective. Lance wasn’t a bad guy. Keith saw it from the moment he walked into the shop. He lumped Lance into a category based on a few trigger words spoken out of, what? Fear. Frustration. Keith held the same level of guilt in many circumstances. 

Keith fussed with the end of the kimono. People did horrible things to others when they were desperate or greedy. “Look, Lancesan.” He turned his head up, meeting the foreigner’s eyes, and the nerve left him. No one should have the sway those sea colored eyes had. Keith’s confession got lost within the tide. He could give Lance a friend tonight. Everyone needed someone. 

“Things will work out. Somehow, I am sure.” Keith closed his eyes and those blood red lips developed a gentle quirked up curve. “You are a good guy, and good guys sometimes have to work harder than others because it is hard to do the right thing.” 

Lance lifted his head and looked at Keiko. “You…really think so?” His lips twitched into a ghost of a smile as he let go of his arm. “I…I work really hard. I don’t want people to think I’m a bad person, so you saying so makes me feel a lot better.” He shifted a bit and took a deep breath, speaking his next thoughts, perhaps for a bit of affirmation. “Tomorrow, I will go back to that shop and apologize. I feel awful for behaving the way I did. I just hope the people there don’t hate me.”

Keith covered the hand which had holding Lance’s injured arm. Keith knew the touch was too informal. Too personal. The harm would be minimal since their encounter tonight would be ‘Keiko’s’ last. Keith allowed the little kindness of a touch.

“Trust me. It will be fine. My manager knows the people of that shop. They might seem a bit odd. But they are also good people. Just watch out for the boy.” Keith tested the waters. “He can be a bit rough and pretty anti-social.”

Lance looked down at their hands, then back up to Keiko’s face. “Oh? I…thought he was pretty nice until I made him mad at me. But I will still apologize.” He smiled a little and felt a heat pink his cheeks slightly. “Do…you hate me?”

“No.” A finger lifted to catch up a drying tear. “It is hard to hate a cry-baby like you. Hmm?” Keith leaned up to place a maternal kiss to the top of the boy’s head. He noted the soft cinnamon scent of his hair. Keith liked cinnamon. 

Coming back to sit on his heels, Keith did little to fight the blush on his cheeks. No Geisha or Maiko would ever be so familiar so soon, but Keith wasn’t a geisha, and Lance wouldn’t know better. “You get one. Okay? Because your mother is not here to do it for you.”

Lance’s blushing flared darker, and he stared at her a little, but the smile that came to his face was happier and brighter than any before. “Then…I can see you again? I won’t…I won’t do anything, but I feel so comfortable talking to you, and…” He shook his head a little.

Keith’s mind froze. “Eh?” He titled his head again, far enough each of the ornaments in his hair chimed. “You want to see me again? After I…” Keith pointed out the darkening cheek.

“After you justifiably slapped me because I was being a brute? How does any of that fault lie with you? If anything, you should say no since I was so horrible…” Lance looked at her and blinked. 

A stray slip of black hair fell loose from Keith’s hair and curled around his cheek. _Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact_ Keith made eye contact. “Okay. You can see me. Arrange it with Coran.”

“You are truly amazing, do you know that?” Lance smiled at her, reaching up, but then stopping his hand before he touched that stray strand of hair. “May I?”

“Alright. That will be two.” Keith whispered, trapped by his gaze.

Lance looked into her eyes and felt like he could get lost in those amethyst depths. He snapped himself out of it, so he wouldn’t stare, and he carefully pulled that strand of hair from her cheek, gently tucking it back into place as though he had done something similar before. “There.”

“Thanks.” Keith bowed with a sheepish tilt of his head.

“You’re welcome.” Lance watched her, awe filling his expression. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”

“And if I said, you paid me?” Keith closed his eyes. A shitty thing to say and his heart couldn’t follow through with the words, but he said them nonetheless.

Lance winced, but he was thankful Keiko’s eyes were closed, so she wouldn’t see it. “Ah. Is that it?” He scooted back a little and rested his hands on his knees, once again resuming as formal of a pose as he could without being uncomfortable. “I suppose that’s true…” He looked down at the tatami floor, suddenly finding the pattern very interesting. 

“Though,” Keith swallowed. He needed to leave well enough alone. He should hurt him. End this whole thing now then neither one would have to worry about tomorrow night and he wouldn’t have to see the hurt in Lance’s eyes. “I am glad it was you who opened that door and not someone else.” He bowed again. “Thank you for being kind.” 

“Ah…Are you?” Lance kept staring down at the tatami. “Please don’t thank me. I’m just some idiot that paid you for your time…”

“That is true. But things derailed. I am not exactly what you purchased.” Keith held his breath, grabbing the edge of his kimono. It was now or never, “I am not really a-“ He turned back to Lance, his heart sank. His expression. Those eyes. Slumped shoulders. The words got stuck in Keith’s throat. 

“Hm? What is it?” Lance slowly lifted his head to look at her, and with that expression on her face, he figured he probably looked more pathetic than he felt. “You’re not really a what?”

“Huh?” Keith blinked and then turned his head away and the anxiety chased his pulse into a frenzy. Fear welded itself frozen bearing of ice, sitting on the back of his neck. “I.. um… I’m not really a Japanese Geisha. I’m a.. umm.” He lifted his eyes then turned his head back down. _Say it! Damn you! Just Say it!_

“I’m a.. um… Korean. I’m Korean and a Maiko. I’m training to be a real geisha.” Keith had never hated himself more than when those words left his mouth. 

“Oh. Isn’t that okay?” Lance blinked a little. “I mean, you must be pretty special if they’re letting you do that right? Hunk said the Japanese and the Koreans don’t really have a good relationship, so if they’re letting you train to be a geisha, isn’t that great?”

“Yeah. It is hard to get work. My caretaker is friends with the property manager. So I was taken in.” Keith played with the end of his obi. “I was taken from my village when I was young. I do not remember the language. This country is all I know, but I get reminded often that I do not belong.” Keith took a deep breath. 

“There. You shared and then I shared. A friend of mine said that is what friends are supposed to do. So, why not forget the whole thing earlier and start out like this?”

Lance looked at Keiko with sympathetic eyes, reaching out and gently touching her hand, but doing his best not to overstep any boundaries. “I am so sorry that you have such a hard time. At least…I can help make it a little easier right? Even if you only want my money, if it means you can live a little better and be a little happier, I don’t mind…”

“Why are you so kind? As my first customer, you are going to spoil me.” 

“Then…maybe I should monopolize your time so I’m your only customer, so no one else can bother you and make you feel sad things. I know I messed up earlier, but…” Lance smiled a little. “I want you to be happy.”

Keith stared at Lance. The guy had no idea how this whole thing worked, did he? “You will buy me every day?” Keith cocked his head to the side. 

“Yes, if that’ll be beneficial to you.” Lance smiled sheepishly. Maybe he was being stupid, but if Keiko was worried about other men, he would try to protect her.

“You are worried about me?” Keith flashed a grin. “I got a pretty mean back hand.”

“Still.” Lance touched his own cheek, feeling the slight heat still left from that slap. “I’d also get jealous if anyone else took your time.” 

“Oh. Well um. Whatever you work out with Coran. Thank you being so kind. I am honored by your concern.” Keith lowered his eyes. The words and the body language started to feel natural. Talking like a pampered robot left an itch in his throat. He’d have to go to the shop after this and hit things.

Lance smiled a little as he lowered his hand from his cheek, and he nodded just slightly. “Of course, I—“ He was cut off by the sound of knocking. 

“Sir? It is time.” The voice belonged to the child who brought him to the room.

“Ah…” Lance sighed softly and looked at Keiko. “Then…I will make arrangements to see you again. Thank you for being so generous with your time.” 

“I believe considering the value, you are the one being generous.” Keith smiled and bowed his head. 

“What’s the point of having money if you have no one to share it with?” Lance shook his head. “I’m just selfishly having you keep me company.” He smiled, but he stood at the second knock. “Good night, Keiko.”

“Good night, Lancesan.” Keith watched the man get escorted from his room, listening for the foot steps down the hallway before he slumped back against the all, his numb legs sprawling out akimbo. 

“Damn it…” Keith grumbled while shaking his hand through his hair. “Money. Need money.” He reminded himself how much money he made tonight. All he had to do was play with someone’s heart. “Coward.” He downed a cup of sake, chasing it with another. 

\-----

Lance stood outside the shop and fidgeted nervously. Today, he wore the same formal uniform he wore when meeting with Keiko last night. He wanted to be at his best when he apologized to Keith and Pidge for his behavior yesterday. He looked up at the sign for Vol-Tron, taking a few calming breaths before he opened the door and slowly stepped inside. “Hello?” He looked around, and took another step inside, trying to filter out the sounds of gears turning and pistons pumping.

An older man looked up from the counter, monocle in one eye and a glass gage in the other. He looked middle aged, perhaps a few years past, but still too frail for someone that young. He had weathered skin and aged carved frown lines at the corners of his thin lips. Though he lit up as Lance step inside. The chime of the welcoming bell breathing life into the senescent merchant.

“Irrashaimasen!” The man squinted. “OH! Never mind. Welcome my boy.”

Lance blinked, startled for a moment by the older gentleman behind the counter. If anyone in this shop looked like some sort of mad mechanic, this guy was it. He took slow steps towards him, glancing around as he moved, looking for Keith or Pidge. “Um…Hello.” He stopped in front of the counter and shifted nervously. “I--came in here yesterday, and…” He grimaced as he tried to find the words. “I’m afraid I was rather rude, so I wanted to apologize to the others.”

“Hmm. Katie never told me about anything.” The old man shrugged his shoulders. “The boy mentioned a job for someone.” He flaunted a familiar piece of paper around with a detailed drawing over the top. “Barged in and asked me to take a look at this as soon as possible. Impulsive little brat, but he seemed earnest. So here I am.” 

He looked at Lance then at the drawing again. “Ah! Might you be ‘Army Prick?’.” He man smiled even brighter. “He never gave me an actual name.” He held his hand out to Lance. “Sam Holt. This is my shop.”

Lance’s eyebrow twitched at the name on the ticket, but he held out his hand and shook the man’s. He deserved it, but he didn’t like it. “Lance. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Holt.”

Sam laughed, one of those cackling laughs bordering somewhere between wholesome joy and crack pot. “Lance. Now that you mention it. He might have mentioned that.” He clapped his shoulder. “You must have left an impression. He normally doesn’t bother with even that much. But look at this.” Sam held the schematic up for Lance to see a perfect pencil shading of Lance’s arm. The sketch broke down open side views of tendons and muscle structure outside of a concept of a working metal brace. The device seemed slim and light with the words ‘sniper, keep weight variance minimal. Needs mobility over style. Focus-Function.’ Written in English.

“It couldn’t have been a good one…” Lance shook his head slightly and looked at the drawing, blinking a little. “That kind of looks terrifying, but it’ll help my arm?” The contraption looked like something out of a horror novel, but he supposed he should have expected it from a place filled with gears and pistons and oddly glowing things. 

“Dunno. Probably. These things are trial and error. That’s how most of this actually works. Which means I can’t get you a quote. Or a time frame for it to be complete. Keith said you were in a rush for your job,” Sam frowned, “I’ll see what we can do. Pidge is an excellent inventor. If you don’t mind, it would speed things along if you trusted her to assist.”

“If he knows what’s good for him.” Keith’s voice barked through the shop as he kicked the door shut behind him. “Hey,” He nodded his head to Lance as he set an arm full of scrap down on the counter.

“What did you bring me today?” Sam walked past Keith and peered into the box.

“The hell would I know? I just pick stuff up.”

Lance was about to answer the man when Keith’s voice carried through the shop, and he winced a little, his pulse starting to quicken. He kept his mouth shut as the conversation between the two occurred, realizing it was probably better to wait until it was definitely done before he spoke again. He didn’t want to make Keith’s impression of him worse, after all, even if the younger man actually greeted him when he walked up to the counter.

“Pidge around?” Keith dodged and pivoted out of the way of Sam’s erratic pacing. He made it look effortless. He snatched a piece of scrap out of the air before it had a chance to hit the floor then set it on the counter without a word. He cocked his head to Lance and hopped up on the counter beside him, his weight never upsetting the other contents.

“She should be around eventually. She wanted to get to the market when it opened.” Sam answered distracted, as he dug through box. Keith shrugged his shoulders and leaned back to hit a button beside the register. Something somewhere in the shop pinged and the room filled with a low buzz. 

“See the drawing then?” Keith asked as he arched back up.

Lance looked at Keith as the man addressed him and he nodded. “Yes.” He spoke, his voice much quieter than the day before. “About yesterday, I’m really sorry. I was rude and it was wrong of me.” He looked at him before he glanced down at the counter, shifting a bit uncomfortably. 

Keith regarded him for a moment. “Meh,” he shrugged. “Whatever. I’ve heard worse.” 

Lance shook his head. “That...” He trailed off and sighed before he looked at him. “It wasn’t okay. I’m not that kind of person, and I’m pretty mad at myself for it.”

Keith grabbed a hot tea pot and two cups as the conveyer belt jostled them by. “I told you already. It’s fine.” He handed Lance an empty cup.

“Accept his acceptance, Army. It doesn’t get any better.” Sam smiled over his shoulder before pushing the box aside.

“Okay, thank you.” Lance took the cup and looked at Keith, blinking a little, obviously unsure of what to do. “About the question before, I won’t say no to any help you offer. I know nothing about this stuff, so it’s better if the experts handle it, right?”

“Well you’re in the right place. Mr. Holt works magic, and Pidge, well Pidge is something else.” Keith started putting sugar in his tea cup. “Sugar? With your tea?”

Lance shook his head a little. “No thank you.” He stood rather stiffly, though he held the teacup Keith gave him rather carefully. He glanced at him, managing a little smile.

Something akin to a smile quirked up the corner of Keith’s lip, but it faded when he looked down at his own cup. Dissatisfaction forcing his lower lip out in a thoughtful pout. “Yeah, I don’t really like sugar in my tea either.” 

“That’s because you weigh it down with a bunch of junk.” A large barrel chested Japanese man walked into the shop, holding a brown paper bag in his hand. 

“Shiro!” Keith’s eyes lit up even though he put in an effort to maintain indifference. “You got it!”

“Of course I did. Have I ever let you down?” Keith jumped off the counter and took the bag, wasting no time opening it up. Beside Shiro the younger man looked like an eager child, and Shiro completed the image by ruffling his hair.

“Hey!” Keith shifted but couldn’t outright dodge as he clutched the contents to his chest. “Wait. I didn’t ask for-”

“I know. But you helped me out the other night. It was the least I could do.” Shiro shrugged. “You look so happy, it was worth it.” Keith turned his head away.

“Th-thank you.” The long haired boy came back to Lance, unaware of the small blush tingling on his cheeks.

Lance watched the scene with a look of indifference, but for some reason there was a slight twinge in his chest. He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t the kind of person to be bothered by other people’s interactions, but this? Seeing a completely different Keith was weird, and it made him acutely aware at just how different he was. He looked back down at the empty cup in his hand before he set it on the counter. He glanced at Keith’s face, at those pinking cheeks and slightly awed expression, and his own discomfort grew. But he said nothing, unsure if he should stay or leave.

Keith removed a few articles from the bag. A small glass decanter of milk and a jar of honey. With a discreet glance he put the cubes of sugar back in the can and poured the tea in his cup, adding a spoon of honey with a large splash of milk. “Did you want anything?” 

Shiro walked over to Lance with a welcoming smile. “Lance right? I’m glad you decided to stop over! They’ll take good care of you here. Even if they seem a bit… grumpy.” He nodded his head toward Keith who was enjoying his first sip of the syrupy tea concoction. 

Lance simply shook his head at Keith, and he turned to Shiro. “Yes, thank you.” He managed a little smile, but his body tensed a bit, and he straightened his shoulders as though that would make his discomfort go away.

“Are you here for a checkup then?” Sam asked, the light hearted humor leaving his eyes.

Shiro nodded in response. “Yeah. If I could. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” Keith’s shoulders stiffened. 

“Pain?” Sam came up to Shiro and examined his arm, adjusting his glasses.

“Something like that.” Shiro replied. 

“Step on in back and we’ll take a look.” The two men left the room leaving the younger pair sitting in awkward silence. 

“Y-yours shouldn’t do that. Shiro’s is a completely replacement.” Keith cleared his throat. “So don’t let that worry you. But anyway. Was the old man able to give you a quote?”

“I wasn’t worried about that.” Lance murmured and shook his head, glancing at Keith before looking away and trying to find something to occupy his vision. His eyes locked on a clock that seemed like all its insides were on the outsides. Bronze gears shifted and moved. Small gold chains seemed to guide the hands. The time ticked by and felt like an eternity. “No, he hasn’t. But I can just come back later.”

“I talked it over with him, he said that you’d probably have to come in every day for sizing and testing as it’s getting built. Because of your occupation he wants to make sure that it something that will work with your life style and not, well.. you know. Get you killed.” Keith set the cup down. Lance didn’t seem to want to make eye contact with him. It was different from his behavior last night. Did he feel that bad about how he acted? Or was it because Keith was Keith and not Keiko?

“Okay.” Lance finally looked at Keith again and managed a little smile. “I can do that. And at least it would be better than sitting around the base all day.” He shrugged. “As long as I won’t be in the way.”

“A job is a job. You won’t be in the way. If you get really bored you can always help stock a store room and dust a shelf.” Keith joked, but in reality the place could use an extra and or two. 

“I can do that. Do you need the help?” Lance watched him. Keith’s demeanor had completely changed once Shiro left the room. He wondered why, honestly, but he also knew better than to pry.

“Look at this place. The old man thinks this is organized.” Keith commented dryly as he dug through Shiro’s bag again and pulled out two white and green coiled objects. “He got them? He actually got them!?” 

“What are they?” Lance shifted a little and let his stance relax slightly as he looked at Keith. There was that slight twinge again when the other man seemed to perk up, but this time Lance just shook it off.

Keith smirked a small fang showing in otherwise perfect teeth. “They’re sparkers!” 

Lance blinked and tilted his head just slightly. “Sparkers?”

“Yeah, you know. Sparkers? You put them in an engine and it sends a current to ignite the fuel to make the engine run.” Keith’s smile was bright, showing off more of his fanged tooth. 

“Oh.” Lance made a little face. “I’m not very technologically inclined. My bunkmate is the engineer. I’m just good at driving and shooting.” Seeing Keith brighten like that was nice. It made Lance relax even more. ”So what are they for?”

“Do you want to see?” Keith stepped closer to him. “I’ve been working on it for a while. You have to use your imagination… but…”

Lance nodded a little. Keith’s excitement was contagious. “Yes. I do. Is it cool?”

“I think so. Pidge said it’s a trash heap. But-” Keith shrugged then motioned with his head. “Come on to the back of the shop. I’ll show you.” He started walking through the ‘private’ entry doors and turned his head to make sure he was still behind him, his smile soft with a touch of flirt in his glittering violet eyes.

Lance blinked, but followed Keith through the ‘private’ doors. When Keith gave him that look, he felt his heart jump a bit like it did the day before when he was sizing him for the brace. But it was nothing, right? It wasn’t like the way he couldn’t hear himself think because his heart was so loud when he was talking to Keiko. He managed a little smile, and he kept up with his pace. “But if you think it’s cool, does it matter what anyone else says?”

“No. It doesn’t matter. But I still want to make sure no one thinks I’m wasting time, ya know?” Keith brought Lance into a large work shop area. Shelving lined the walls, filled with pieces of scrap and oil bleeding parts. Wires crisscrossed on the floor all leading to a raised dais. A square, grease stained tarp covered a huge cylinder shaped object. “You ready?” Keith bit his lower lip.

“Yeah.” Lance smiled a little at him and looked at the tarp. “And if you like doing it, is it a waste of time?”

“See for yourself.” Keith pulled the tarp back.

A rust dented, chipped up turbine engine sat upon the dais, connected to metal shafting and a worn out broken up bike seat. The newest piece being a steering wheel mounted toward the top. It had been replaced and polished with care. “See you gotta picture it… cleaned up repainted. New seat.. but the outside comes later. Check this out!”

Keith hopped over to the other side and flipped open a latch. With a grunt and the painful scream of metal grinding against metal, he opened the side door. Inside the engine gleamed. Silver and bronze gears and components latched on to each other, looking like the could start moving any second.

Lance watched Keith move over the contraption with excitement. “That’s really cool.” He murmured and looked inside the engine casing. “You built this yourself?” Was everyone here so talented?

“Well yes, and no. Pidge gave guidance. And a lot trial and error.” Keith pointed over his shoulder to the graveyard of broken, burnt, and welded parts. Besides them and scattered about the room, books and magazines sat in stacks. Each one a maintained paper tower of loved use. “I’m a better flyer than a builder. But if you want something bad enough you gotta try, right?”

“Yeah but guidance isn’t the same as building. You built this. That’s amazing! I can’t do anything like this.” Lance shook his head. “I’m not really all that good at things, honestly. It’s probably why it was so easy for me to get passed over for a job I wanted.” He smiled a little and looked at Keith after staring at the engine while he spoke.

Keith blinked. “Well, that’s their loss.” He lifted his hand to clap Lance on the shoulder. The gesture looked awkward coming from Keith. “You’ll be ready for’em next time.”

“Thanks. That does make me feel a little better.” Lance grinned at him. This was much better than the awkwardness from earlier. 

Keith set the sparkers down on the counter with a reverence similar to how he moved Lance’s arm about the other day. Keith liked talking to Lance, and he shocked himself with how easy he could do it. His experience last night played a major role in his behavior now, but there was more to it. “Well nothing gets done by just wishing for it.” He dusted his hands off. “Come on, let’s get a few more measurements out of the way to see if there’s any changes.”

Lance nodded a little. “That’s true.” He relaxed a little more and looked at him. “Do you have to put that thing on my arm again?”

“No. Not today. I’ll be gentle.” Keith grinned as he walked by him. As soon as he got out of Lance’s line of sight his eyes widened. He had blatantly flirted with an absolute stranger, and Pidge had been standing at the door the whole time with a shit eating grin on that smug face of hers. 

“I was wondering why the lights were on back here.” Pidge crossed her arms.

“Shut-it Katie.” Keith growled softly to her ear before he walked to the front of the shop. Keith tended to use her real name as a curse and a warning.

“Oops. Guess I’m in trouble.” She smirked, adjusting her glasses as she looked over Lance. “Oh hey, Army Prick.”

“Katie!”

Lance turned and looked at the two of them. Any comfort he felt in the situation earlier seemed to fade, and he tensed again. “Sorry about yesterday…” He managed, though otherwise he quieted right up. 

“Wait? So we’re not mad anymore?” She called back to the front of the shop.

“Pidge!” Keith yelled again flipping his tone to whined agitation. 

“Ah, guess not. Should have figured.” She shrugged. “Whelp then, I guess we’re fine.” She smiled her same toothy grin from yesterday. “So, he brought you to the shop huh?”

“PIDGE!” This time the yell came with a slam of something. “Leave him alone. We have work to do!”

“Okay okay.” Pidge grinned again at Lance and moved out of his way. 

Lance walked out of that room and back to the counter. He looked at Keith and blinked, a look of confusion crossing his face. “Did I cause problems by being back there with you?” 

Keith’s hair had come undone, the thick raven layers falling over his face, hiding it in shadow. “No. She’s just being dumb.”

“Pish. Them’s fight’in words pretty boy.” Pidge came through the doorway, then blinked at Keith before shaking her head. “Alright, I was being dumb. Sorry I broke up your tea party. But you do have some more work to do. If Lance is okay with me working on it, I can get started tomorrow.” She sat down on the same bench she had been on the day before as if she already knew Lance’s answer and prepared herself to disregard him.

“I don’t have a problem with it. Am I supposed to?” Lance blinked at Pidge, if only to keep himself from staring at Keith now that his hair was down. He was so beautiful, and had the urge to touch that hair, but he knew that would have been ridiculous and inappropriate.

Pidge stared up at him, looking over her shoulder to share a look with Keith then back at Lance. “Really?”

“You know she’s a girl, right?” Keith wasn’t saying it to disparage Pidge. He had the utmost respect for her. He wasn’t sure about Lance. Most people around here didn’t trust a girl to know anything about technology. In comparison to the rest of the world, women in Kyoto had more freedoms and more respect, but certain expectations and molds were upheld. Pidge defied every single one. 

“Well yeah, you called her Katie. I don’t know any guys with that name. Besides, my mom and sisters are girls, and they can do some things a lot better than my dad, my brothers, and I. It would be stupid to have a problem with a girl doing something she can do well, wouldn’t it?” Lance honestly looked confused. “And you’re good at it, right?” He looked at Pidge and smiled. At least now he understood why she dressed like a boy and had what seemed to be a more masculine haircut. 

Pidge sat up straighter and smirked. “I’m damn good. Almost better than dad.”

“I’ve seen what she can do. She is better than the old man.” Keith got up and stood beside Lance. “Come on. She’ll want to start as soon as possible.”

“Make sure you check for variants. I want pressure readings on the pronator teres, and double check the extensor and the flexor tendons.” Pidge grabbed a piece of paper and started drafting up notes.

Keith chuckled while shaking his head. “Have a seat.” He waved the stool in front of him.

Lance sat down and looked up at Keith, smiling a little. “So no piercing my skin again? How should I do this? Since this is my formal uniform.” He looked a bit embarrassed, his cheeks pinking slightly. “I wanted to look my best when I apologized.”

“It looks nice on you.” Keith arched a brow. “You seem disappointed. Do you want me to stick you?” Keith grinned. 

“What? No!” Lance shook his head and pouted. “Definitely not.”

“Well I’ll need to get at your arm though. Are you able to take it out?”

“Well, yes, but since this uniform is a bit stiffer, I’m going to have to take my shirt off.” Lance looked at Keith. “Maybe I should go back to the base and change first? Since this is the storefront?”

“There’s a back room. You two can go back there.” Pidge offered with a too innocent smile.

Keith shot the teen a glare before giving his attention to Lance again. “I mean you can. But it depends on what you feel comfortable with.”

Lance blinked a little and arched a brow. “I’m in the army. I have to shower with a bunch of guys every day. Taking my shirt off is nothing. It depends on what you are comfortable with.”

“I’m fine with it. If it’s easier for you than going and coming back. I mean do you have any plans for the day?” Keith pushed away from the counter and walked over to a set of curtained stalls. 

“No, I don’t have plans for a while. I’m on an extra month forced leave once everyone else’s leave is over.” Lance shook his head and started undoing his tie as he got up and followed Keith.

Keith pushed back the curtain and nodded his head. “Alright then.” He let Lance go ahead of him before he stepped into the smaller room and sat down at a long table made of out of a plank and cement blocks.

Lance blinked and looked around the small room as he pulled his tie off. He sat down by Keith, unbuttoning his uniform shirt as he did so, the thick, brown fabric rustling as he carefully untucked it from his pants. 

Keith busied himself with setting up a makeshift work area. “Any changes since yesterday that you’ve noticed? Pain or otherwise?” He asked while sharpening a pencil, he set it down on the paper pulled all his hair to one side of his neck. 

“No.” Lance pulled his shirt off, though he moved a bit slowly when he had to get his right arm out of the sleeve. “I mean it’s pretty much always sore or painful, so it’s nothing different.” He carefully folded the top and placed it on his lap, resting the tie over it.

“What would you say your-” Keith finally turned to Lance, making an conspicuous, slow sweep of his body before he realized what he was doing and coughed. Lance was an alarmingly attractive man. Young, but Keith would not use the word ‘boyish’ to describe any part of his well-shaped chest, soft lined abs, or the gentle hump of muscle when flexed his arms. “Um, your um motion… Range of motion. Has that um… what would you say it was, exactly?” 

“Usually I can move it normally. It’s just really tight sometimes. It’s worse some days and better others. Sometimes it feels like it locks up, and then I can’t lift it at all. Those are the days it hurts the most.” Lance looked at Keith and smiled slightly. “Though I’m kind of used to it most days, or at least I’m better at hiding it on some days.” He lifted his left arm and rubbed his right, over the bullet scar. “Right now, it’s sore, but it’s not bad.”

“After yesterday? I’m not surprised. May I?” Keith stood up and pressed his hand against his shoulder from behind him. “This might be too close for comfort, but bear it.” Keith stole his breath and rubbed his long slender fingers into the muscle. “Inhale and exhale in counts of five.” He showed Lance what to expect as he breathed in then out, the rise of his chest brushing against Lance’s shoulder blade.

“Not any worse than usual, though.” Lance closed his eyes and breathed as he was told. He could feel Keith’s warmth, and it was more soothing than he would have expected. The press of his fingers into the muscle felt good, too. 

“That’s it.” Keith whispered by his ear. “Keep breathing just like that.” He timed his presses into Lance’s arm, finding a knot and messaging it away. “Keep going.” He leaned further over him until the fall of his hair pooled against Lance’s neck.

A shiver went down Lance’s spine, and for a moment, he felt good. Better than he had felt for a long time, but that had to be because of the wat Keith was massaging his muscle, right? He kept up the deep breathing, his eyes still closed. 

“How’s it feel?” Keith’s brought his fingers back up and kneaded into the flesh of his bicep. “Better? Worse?”

“Better.” Lance did his best to keep his voice even. He didn’t want to let out a moan or anything, as he had already embarrassed himself yesterday. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his uniform, trying to keep himself focused. “Much better.”

“Okay.” Keith pulled out a sheet and folded up his scarf to lay it on the table. “Lay back on the board and I’m going to have you do a few stretches to check your range of motion and if you can use your fingers.”

“All right.” Lance stood and left his shirt and tie on the chair before he laid back on the board and looked at Keith. “What do you want me to do?”

“Keep your back flat and reach for me with your right hand and arm.” Keith sat to Lance’s left on the edge of the chair, careful of the uniform. His head by Lance’s upper arm.

Lance shifted so his back was flat, and he tried to move his right arm over himself to reach for Keith with his hand, but he felt the tendon pull, and a shooting pain caused him to wince.

Keith winced. “Okay okay. Relax. Take a few breaths. And then when you’re ready, lay on your side. Facing me.”

Lance forced himself to stop gritting his teeth, and he took a few calming breaths in an attempt to overcome that pain before he carefully moved to his left side, resting his right arm carefully on top of himself, hoping some of the soreness would go away. His eyes widened when he saw just how close Keith was. 

“Okay. Do they still teach how to use a bow and arrow?” Keith met Lance’s eyes. His expression was serious but by no means cold.

“I know how to use one, but they don’t train us that way anymore.” Lance’s lips twitched into a slight smile. “It’d be pointless to try to shoot someone with an arrow if they’re pointing a gun at you.”

“Well luckily I don’t have any guns.” Keith laughed a little. “I want you to draw your arm out like you’re hitching and pulling back an arrow. Once you’re as far back as you can go, roll your shoulder forward with your right hand and aim to touch my nose.” Keith tapped the tip of his up dipped nose.

“I would appreciate if you didn’t shoot me. I’ve already had that happen once.” Lance smiled a little, but he tried to focus and move his arms in the way Keith was describing. He winced a little when he tried to push his right hand past his left, and his tendon pulled a bit more.

Keith grinned and sat up. He leaned in close, following the line of his arm until his body hovered horizontally over Lance’s head and shoulder. He felt his belt brush the back of Lance’s hand.

Lance looked up at him, eyes wide, and for a moment he was distracted from the tension in his arm. “Keith? What’s that look for?” Was he supposed to stop reaching? 

“Hm?” Keith turned his head, his eyes level with Lance’s. His breath caught. He didn’t expect to be so close to him. Their faces bare inches apart. Feeling the moisture of the other’s breathing against his lips Keith licked the sensation away, but it made him more aware. “Your body, does it naturally run at a higher t-temperature?” He got the words out as his hair dusted across Lance’s dark skinned chest.

“Yeah, I think so?” Lance whispered and looked up at him, his cheeks flushing just slightly due to their proximity. “Am I feverish?” He could feel his chest tightening, and he slowly shifted himself so he was settled back on the table, panting slightly because the strain on his arm was too much. 

Keith shifted his shoulders and leaned up. “Lance I-”

“Are you about finished?” At the intrusion of a deep masculine voice Keith’s whole body stiffened and darted upright, his eyes were wide, and for a split second a warm tingle spread over his face before his head bowed, hiding again under the dark locks his long hair. 

“Shi..shiro? Did you need something?” Keith cleared his throat, tension in his shoulders. 

“Pidge was worried that it was taking too long, so I came over to see if you needed any help.” Shiro’s dark eyes fixed on Lance. “Did you need help?”

“N-no. I just finished. His body seemed a little warm so I was-”

“Checking his temperature by laying on him?” Shiro’s eyebrow arched up. Keith didn’t say anything more, only turned his head to the side. “If you’re done, let the soldier dress and go give the information to Pidge so she can get started.”

“S-shiro.” Keith started.

“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.” Shiro moved the curtain aside and let Keith out before closing the it again and looking at Lance. “How’s the arm?”

Lance slid off the table and rubbed his right shoulder a bit. He wasn’t sure why Shiro seemed to be scolding Keith, when Keith didn’t do anything wrong, so he just looked at him and shrugged slightly. “Tight, but not as bad as it was before.” He carefully pulled on his uniform shirt and buttoned it, not tucking it back into his pants as he loosely tied the tie around his neck. 

“Do you think they can help?” Shiro folded his arms across his chest. 

Lance nodded and looked at him again. “Yes. I really do.”

“And Keith?” Shiro stood at the door way and imposing figure blocking the only exit of the room. “I have a feeling I interrupted something a moment ago.”

“What about him?” Lance looked at him, one brow arching a bit. “The only thing you interrupted was him checking my arm and making sure I wasn’t feverish.”

Shiro arched a brow before moving out of Lance’s way. “One thing.” He clapped his hand against the smaller man’s shoulder. “He may act the way he does. You’ve seen it. I don’t have to tell you. He doesn’t have a lot of friends. He doesn’t get close to many people. Just, don’t hurt him. I don’t expect anything more from you than that.”

“I don’t really have friends either, so…” Lance glanced up at Shiro and offered him a smile. “So I’m not going to go pushing away or hurting one of the few people that I want to be my friend.” 

A kind grin curved Shiro’s stern lips. “I’m happy to hear that.” He wrapped his arm around Lance’s slender shoulders, the action accepting and welcoming. “Then I’m glad I recommended you to come here.” He led Lance out of the room, his demeanor lighter than the person he’d been just seconds prior.

“Yes, thank you for that.” Lance blinked up at Shiro, unsure how to feel about the larger man putting his arm around his shoulder like they had been friends all their lives. He wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but it was weird. Weird enough that he looked at Keith once they got out into the shop proper, his eyes wide. 

Keith never lifted his head; he appeared focused, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth, but the tension built up in his shoulders became obvious the more he tried to appear natural. He had a piece of paper out in front of him and a piece of coal gripped in white knuckles as he sketched. 

Pidge leaned over his shoulder, smiling softly as she watched him work. “Hey. Looks like he got a good look at what I still needed.” She pointed down to the paper. “Look.”

Lance stepped away from Shiro with a slight nod to the older man before he walked to the counter and looked down at the drawing. He blinked at the detail Keith was putting in, since it was a drawing of him. Well, specifically of his upper arm, shoulder, neck, and chest. “Woah…Keith. You’re really good at that.”

“I just like to draw.” Keith pulled his hair back, the ruddy shade still over his unforgiving cheeks. “The more detail I put in, the better Pidge can understand how to make it. I-we don’t want it hurt.” His eyes flittered up to Lance then back down once they caught sight of Shiro. 

Lance gently rested a hand on Keith’s shoulder, patting lightly as he grinned at him. “Well., that’s a bonus for me, and I appreciate it, but you’re still really good at it!”

“Thanks.” Keith met Lance’s eyes again the tiny smile mirroring a spark of light in their violet depths.

Lance smiled at him and patted his shoulder again before he stepped back. “So, I should let you get some work done right?” He looked around the shop, nodding a little to Shiro, who simply nodded back, before he looked at Pidge. “Thanks again. I look forward to working with you.” He smiled, and finally looked back to Keith. “And thank you for all the help.” He smiled once more before he straightened himself up and headed to the door of the shop. “I’ll be back tomorrow!” He called out before stepping through the door.


	3. Yellow Tulip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Yellow Tulip** _Chūrippu チューリップ_ \- One Sided Love
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)

“So, what was that all about?” Shiro leaned against the back shelf, legs crossed over each other as he tossed a wrench between his hands. Dark eyes bore down. Keith, entirely engrossed in an engine block, didn’t notice.

“What do you mean?” Keith’s goggled forehead peeked above the rusted out hood. 

“Don’t give me that innocent look, you know damn well.” Shiro set the wrench down and stepped up behind Keith. “With the customer.”

“Customer? You mean Lance?” Keith closed the hood and faced Shiro, his eyebrow pushing his goggles up further on his forehead.

“Yes, Lance.” Shiro rolled his eyes. He hated when Keith got like this. Shiro had been a respectful kid growing up, so he had no idea how to handle young adult snark.

“Does it matter?” Keith stepped around Shiro and rummaged through the shelf for random scrap. 

“Of course it matters, you know it does. It’s risky behavior. You don’t-“ Shiro cut himself off when Keith slammed a piece of metal down on the plywood shelving, dust kicking up into the air.

“Does it matter to you?” Keith asked staring hard at a jaw of gears.

“Keith, you know it does. You matter to me.” Shiro turned, his hand settling on Keith’s shoulder. The weight of the prosthetic forced smaller man to lean into his hold. “Keith, you are important. Not just to me but to Sam and Pidge. You need to be more careful. The American army guy isn’t going to be as understanding as the rest of us.”

“Understanding about what?” Keith dared, he didn’t have to take any guesses to know exactly where this conversation was going, and it wasn’t where he wanted it.

“Your particular preferences.” Shiro tried to put the words delicately. 

“For the love of-“ Keith snarled. “My ‘particular preferences.’ Just say it Shiro. I’m gay. I’m not like you. I Why does everyone else seem to have a problem with saying it.” 

“Keith. I’m being serious here. He could hurt you. Get his friends together and- I’ve seen what can happen. Americans are not-“

“He’s Cuban.” Keith cut Shiro off. “And don’t worry. It’s not like that any way.”

“Not like what?” Shiro asked.

“He likes women.” Keith dug his nail into a grove on the pliers. “And he’s not cruel. If he found out, he’d probably just shrug it off and be happy I wasn’t competing with him.” Keith tilted his head back, his eyes closing. “Just a friend. There’s nothing wrong with that? Right?”

“No.” Shiro touched the edge of Keith’s face with a warm finger, drawing the man’s attention. “You had a smudge.”

“Ah.” Keith arched his eyebrows in confusion before shaking his head. “Still, after flaunting me around in women’s clothing you’d think you’d be less prudish about me checking ‘muscle’ structure.” Keith stepped in to Shiro and the larger man held his ground unbothered by the closeness.

“That was different. You were helping out a friend of mine and me.” Shiro’s words cleared Keith’s eyes, and he lowered his head remembering Shiro’s friend. 

“Yeah. A ‘friend’. Sounds like you should be the careful one.” Keith stepped away, swatting Shiro’s hand only to have his captured and held. Keith swallowed, feeling the heat in his cheeks, knowing Shiro could see it but be too polite to point it out.

“I’ll be fine.” Shiro shrugged, aware of the turmoil he set in his young charge’s mind. Keith’s boyhood crush hadn’t gone away as Shiro hoped. A part of him never wanted it to go away. Shiro would never hurt Keith. At least not in the way others certainly would. He couldn’t give the boy everything he wanted, but he could provide safety.

“Yeah, but you’re not sleeping. I heard you tell Sam. Is it still about ‘her’.” Keith lifted his head up, this time concern in his eyes.

“They’re always about her…” 

\-----

“So you really like her even though you only met her…” Doubt laced Hunk’s voice as he watched Lance pace around the room, wearing only a towel around his waist. He sat on his bunk and shook his head a little because Lance had been trying to decide between his formal and informal uniform for the past half an hour. 

“Are you criticizing me? Mister ‘Shay is amazing and I’m in love’ after only talking to her once?” Lance stopped his pacing and looked over at his friend. “At least I’m not declaring my undying affection. I like her. Of course I like her. She’s talented, and nice, and she’s definitely the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.”

“And so you’re paying to see her again? Lance…even I can see that’s a bad deal.” Hunk shook his head and sighed. “You’re totally being taken advantage of.”

Lance shrugged and turned back to his bunk, folding his formal uniform and putting it to the side as he pulled on the informal one. It still looked good. It was still appropriate for social situations. It just wasn’t as stiff as the other. And it wasn’t like he was meant to be impressing the generals. He just wanted to be polite and comfortable. He turned back to Hunk after he tucked the tan shirt into the brown pants, smoothing it out and grinning at him. “She needs money. I have money. And if it means I can be selfish and spend time with her--”

“Even if she’s only talking to you because of that money?” Hunk cut him off, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to upset you, not that it’s working.” He shook his head and stood, moving in front of Lance and fixing his tie for him. When he was done, he rested his hands on his friend’s shoulders. “I want you to be happy. I want you to find someone who will love you back the way Shay and I love each other.”

Lance rested his hands on Hunk’s and grinned. “I just have to charm her, right? I mean I’m pretty attractive. So I just have to show her I’m a cool guy, and she’ll be completely in love with me.” 

“How do you have so much confidence?” Hunk chuckled and patted his shoulders. “All right man, but please at least be careful?”

“Yeah yeah.” Lance waved his hand a little once Hunk stepped back. “If she breaks my heart, you can just make me a lot of comfort food and help me feel better hm?”

“Deal.” Hunk chuckled and sat back on his bunk, watching his friend walk out of their room. 

Lance took a few deep breaths once the door shut behind him. Hunk was so good at picking at his insecurities and poking at them over and over again. Of course the larger man didn’t mean to upset him. He was just concerned, and Lance was thankful for it. Hunk was his only friend on the base, and he didn’t want to lose that, but sometimes Hunk poked at him just a bit too much.

He took another breath and headed off base to go to the geisha house. He wanted to talk to Keiko about how his apology seemed to go well. He wanted to thank her for snapping him out of his funk. He really just wanted to see her again. And the slight skip in his step was such a telling sign. Lance was honestly happy. Even though there was the pressure of becoming army-competent again before his forced extra month of leave was up, he was happy. He still had the rest of the general leave, and Pidge seemed really excited to try to work on his brace. Lance knew she was as smart as Keith said she was, since Keith said it, and he knew she would do a good job.

And as he was led to the room from the night before, he felt a grin tug at his lips. It remained there even as he was let into the room, and his eyes lit up at the sight of Keiko, already settled and surrounded with purple fabrics. A darker purple tinted the cloth around her shoulders, accenting that perfect porcelain skin of her neck. Lance felt his heart thump in his chest as he slowly lowered himself to the tatami, his eyes taking in the rest of the amethyst beauty. Lighter violets, splashes of silvers and whites. It looked as though a snowy mountain graced the rest of the fabric, though it was folded due to her position. The obi around her waist was the color of the moon, the same snowy mountain motif accentuated with a red band, contrasting the relaxing hues of the rest of the cloth.

Lance blushed faintly and rested his hands on his knees again. “G-good evening.”

Keith bowed and pushed his hands forward. “Welcome. Thank you for seeing me this night as well.” The door to their room closed and Keith straightened his back smiling at Lance with a tilt of his head. Painted metal wisteria blossoms danced against his cheek hanging from the clip in his hair. Soft violet petals pinned through his updo catching the light with a few allowed to cascade down in the water fall of black renegade hair. 

Keith took Lance in. The boy was adorable tonight, like he’d been the other night and this morning. The evening made it their fourth meeting in two days and after his talk with Shiro today, he was glad for it. Lance’s refreshing upbeat attitude kept his mind off other things and he didn’t care if he had to be Keiko or Keith. “You do not have to be so formal with me by now. If you relax, I can relax.”

“Oh! Okay!” Lance took a few deep breaths, trying to slow the speed of his heart. She was so beautiful, he almost couldn’t handle it. “Keiko…I…” His cheeks flushed as he smiled at her, a wide, bright smile, that seemed to light up his whole face. “I apologized to those people this morning, and…I think I’m becoming friends with them. I mean I hope I am! I really like them. And one of them is making his own air bike and it’s so cool, and…” He laughed a little to stop himself from rambling. “Sorry, I’m just really excited.”

Keith chuckled behind his kimono sleeve, the purple dye making his eyes sparkle. The delight Lance felt was infectious. “See, I told you it would be okay.” He poured up a saucer of sake. “An air bike you say? That is something.” 

“Isn’t it? I mean we have some on base, but I’ve never gotten to see them in the process of being built.” Lance kept smiling. “I…I mean…” He blushed a bit as he tried to calm his down. “For me…this is really good. I mean, having friends makes the day go by without me thinking about how bad my situation is, and then getting to see you at night is even better.”

“You do not have many friends?” Keith arched a brow up. “How is that possible. You seem to be the type everyone would like.”

“Thanks for thinking so, but…I have one friend. Well, three now maybe.” Lance nodded a little, then looked down at his hands. “It’s because of my skin, right? I mean there are a bunch of us that aren’t light like everyone else, and they put us in the same bunker. Hunk—he’s my roommate, is my best friend. We’ve been together since training…”

Keith reached his hand out to touch the back of Lance’s. “I know what that feels like. I am sorry you have to feel it to. But as long as we have people to lean on, it is not so bad. Right?” 

“Oh?” Lance looked at her and smiled a little sadly. “If you need someone, will you use me? If you know what it feels like, then that’s something I want to help you with.”

“Eh?” Keith blinked and looked suspiciously around the room before going back to Lance’s face. “Well growing up Korean in Japan is not easy. I am not well liked around here. I told you that much.” He didn’t know how but something about Lance made it easy for Keith to speak. “Thank you, but please do not trouble yourself over someone like me. It will not be worth your worries, but I am flattered you would think about me, even if just a little.” 

“You’re worth it. You’re definitely worth it.” Lance touched Keiko’s fingers since she hadn’t pulled her hand away yet. “I like you. So I want you to feel liked.” He smiled softly. Having someone aside from Hunk who understood him was such a relief.

Keith’s eyes caught Lance’s and they stayed fixed on his before he lowered them again. “I was warned about people like you. With the army.” Shiro’s voice echoed in Keith’s ears. “I was told you are dangerous and brutish. You hurt people who are different. Your friends from the shop. I know of them. They are all pretty different. A girl who dresses as a boy, and there is a boy there, I hear rumors about.” Keith swallowed, but he had to know but he dropped his head. “Forgive me. These are just gossip. It is not polite in company like this, but…” He worried his ruby lips. 

Lance blinked. That was something he absolutely didn’t expect to hear, but he understood Keiko’s concern. His brows furrowed a little, and he watched her face before he smiled softly. “There are bad people in any group. It’s unfortunately what happens when you get a lot of people together. I’m not like that though. I would never hurt someone just because they’re different. That’s not the kind of person I ever want to be, especially since I understand.” He sighed. “I’m pretty sure I was shot by the guy who took my promotion. I’d like to believe it was an accident, but I’m not sure it was. I’d also like to believe my sergeant made me take the extra leave because he knows I’ll get back on track and be good with my arm again, but I’m sure he is just trying to set me up for failure.” 

Lance shook his head and smiled a little despite the pain those ideas brought him. “As for the people in the shop, I don’t feel threatened by people just trying to live their lives. It doesn’t bother me if a girl dresses like a boy. And I don’t know what kind of rumors you hear, but I can’t imagine they’d make me not want to be friends with someone.”

“I am happy to hear that.” Keith smiled, letting it reach his eyes. “Then let us not bother with such depressing talk. You came here because you were happy and wanted to celebrate, right?” He handed Lance the saucer. 

Lance nodded and took the saucer from her, looking down at the sake and smiling sheepishly. “I did. I wanted to celebrate and just spend time with you.”

“You know what is funny? I found myself looking forward to tonight.” Keith’s lips developed a delicate curve. “Halfway through the day, I realized it. Strange. Is it not?” He didn’t lie. After Lance left the shop, Keith wanted to see him again. He wanted to talk more about air bikes, ask about army vehicles, or if Lance could drive one to the shop to show him. Many more topics entered Keith’s mind, but he denied them the breath of life. Keiko wouldn’t be interested in such things.

Lance looked up from the sake and smiled. “Yeah?” He didn’t think it was possible for him to get happier in that moment, but here he was. His cheeks were red, but he kept smiling, not bothered by the pounding of his heart in his chest. “Me?”

“There is no one else in this room.” Keith winked then lowered his head, thoughts of Shiro slamming into him making his heart feel like a lead weight. “No one else willing to care about me the way you do.”

“Well then that’s their loss.” Lance gently touched her hand with his free one. “You’re amazing. Talented, smart, pretty. Anyone who doesn’t want to care for you is making a bad decision.”

Keith flittered his eyes up, meeting Lance’s before he remembered the compliments belonged to Keiko. “I am not in the business of long term relationships. Someone like me, cannot give what people like you deserve.”

“That doesn’t change what you deserve.” Lance smiled just a little more before he drank the sake and scrunched up his nose a little. “Whatever I deserve isn’t worth you suffering.”

“Why are you so different?” Keith leaned forward. “You are not at all what I thought you would be.”

“What did you think I’d be?” Lance blinked and looked at her.

“Honestly?” Keith reached his hand up to touch Lance’s face, appreciating a liberty not granted him at the shop. “Spoiled.”

Lance grinned a little, though his cheeks darkened at the touch. “That’s fair, I was a jerk yesterday.”

“I was not pleasant either.” Keith shook his head, the metal flowers chiming about his hair. Women put up with a lot, didn’t they? “We already started over from that, right?” He pulled his hand back to his lap and poured them both up saucer.

Lance nodded a little. “Yes. You’re right. But I am glad you think I’m not actually like that.” He settled a little and shook his head. “I try really hard to be likeable. I mean I think I’m an okay person most of the time anyway, but…people find me less threatening if I make jokes or try to laugh things off. It doesn’t make me friends, but it keeps the jerks off my back, too.” He glanced down at his injured arm. “Well, for the most part.”

“So, someone who was supposed to protect you, ended up being the one who hurt you?” Keith closed his eyes again, biting back on making the conversation too personal. 

“I think so, but I can’t prove it. I only know that the shot came from where the fighting was. So it could have been an enemy, or it could have been the guy. It sucks. It might potentially ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve, but…I mean if there’s anything positive that’s come out of it…I met you.” Lance smiled and looked at her. “Hunk only made me come to that show because I was depressed. If I had gotten the promotion, I would have been celebrating elsewhere instead. So I met you…and I made some new friends. I guess that makes it a little better.”

“That is…” Keith’s blush has gotten so dark his white painted cheeks turned the shade of cherry blossoms. “Do-do you want to lay on my lap?!” He swallowed as he asked. He had seen men and Geisha in the position often enough. Not in a sexual way, but a means for a Geisha to comfort their customers. Shiro had done it. Shiro did a lot of things he shouldn’t do with Geisha. Keith folded his legs under him and made a pillow out of his thighs. 

“I-I will not offer twice.” Keith couldn’t remove the stutter from his voice.

Lance’s eyes widened and he nodded, taking that second saucer of sake and downing it before he laid his head down on her lap, looking up at her with red cheeks. “This is the best night of my life.” He whispered, but he knew it was loud enough for her to hear.

“You are still young.” Keith laid his hand in Lance’s hair. “You have a lot of life a head of you.”

“Even so…” Lance blushed more as he looked up at her, his eyes half closing at the feel of those fingers in his hair. 

“There will be better nights. I am certain.” Keith combed pale fingers through Lance’s sandy locks. “But for now, this is okay.” 

“For now this is amazing.” Lance murmured and allowed his eyes to close completely. “I feel so relaxed around you.”

“Then I am money well spent.” Keith joked. “Though, if I may be so bold, I do not dislike this. Your hair is pretty soft.” He smiled, watching the short threads slip between his fingers. He felt it then. The first twinge of a flutter in his chest. The smallest sprouting of wings on a newly hatched butterfly. 

“Definitely.” Lance smiled, but he kept his eyes closed. “I--well I’m very particular about what I use to wash my hair. Maybe it’s weird for a guy to be worried about that, but…”

“I like it.” Keith said without thinking, his fingers still moving through it. 

\---

Keith stood with his elbows folded in front of him while holding his chin, staring at the door of the shop. Impatience forcing him to strum his fingers. Lance was late. 

Their strange relationship had been going on for the better part of two weeks. During the day Lance hung out with him and Pidge in the shop. He’d help with a few tasks here and there and come into the back work room. Lance didn’t have a mechanical bone in his lanky body, but he made for a good set of extra hands. His long fingers easy fit into areas Keith couldn’t reach. 

At night when Keith became Keiko, a snarky maiko with a bitter tongue, Lance would trust her with everything. He told her a thousand stories which held Keith enrapt. Lance spoke of the places he had been, the trouble him and his friend Hunk got into, and a growing library of endearing stories about a tiny group of friends Lance made at a local gear shop. Keith hid inside the lies, and it tore at him, but he entrenched himself too deep. 

“He’s not going to appear just because you want him too.” Pidge said, off to his left. “You don’t play hard to get very well. You seem to play, ‘Look at me!’.”

“I’m not playing anything.” Keith grumbled, turning his head away from the door, but not his eyes.

“I think it’s good. I was worried that you couldn’t move on from Shiro.”

“Pidge!” Keith spun sharply to glare at the pint-sized tomboy. “I’ve told you to-” He cut off stumbling forward to find balance in the tilting room. Pidge’s tiny beige hands steadied him.

“Hey, take it easy. You had your tests last night. You should be in bed, not up and around.” Pidge’s sardonic voice disappeared in to gentle concern as she helped Keith settle back against a chair. The legs squeaking under his weight. 

“I’m fine. I’m used to it. Been doing ’em since I was a kid.” Keith leaned back as Pidge laid a compress against his forehead. Only then he noticed the biting cold of the ice box she took it from on his neck.

The doorbell jingled and Lance half ran into the shop, his eyes widening when he saw Keith half laying over the chair. “What happened?” He set a bag down on the counter. “Are you okay?” He reached out to touch one of Keith’s cheek. 

“He gets blood tests once a month.” Pidge’s eyes lifted from Lance’s all too familiar presence, and her observant eye didn’t fail to notice Keith’s subtle nuzzle of Lance’s fingers.

“I’m okay. It’s nothing to worry about.” Keith sat up straighter to ease the other man’s worry. “What’s in the bag?”

“Oh. Okay, if you’re sure.” Lance pulled his hand back and pulled some cloth-wrapped bundles from the bag. “Hunk helped me make some sandwiches for us today. He was especially inspired since he spent his off time with his girlfriend, and he always wants to make food when that happens.” He looked at Keith, the concern knitted in his brow, but he said nothing else.

“Oh!” Keith sat up more.

“I feel like I get to reap the benefits of this, and I won’t complain.” Pidge smiled stepping away from Keith but not without one last worried glance.

“Hunk is an amazing cook. So, you’ve said.” Keith had to check his memory. Remembering to split apart what Keith knew from what Keiko knew. 

“Anyone can make sandwiches.” Pidge hopped up to sit on the counter, her ankles crossed.

“But when they are made for you,” Keith started to stand then sat back down when his world shifted again. “They’re better!” He played it off.

“He is an amazing cook. Yeah these are just sandwiches, but they’re the kind of sandwiches that will make you love them.” Lance grinned and handed one to Pidge, and another to Keith before he sat down next to him and rested his hand on his shoulder. It was how he could steady him and still make it look friendly. The last thing he wanted Keith to think was that Lance thought he seemed weak.

“How’s your arm feeling today?” Keith turned his head up to Lance, worry evident in those violet eyes. 

“Better, but it usually does after you touch it. Are you sure you’re okay?” Lance’s face scrunched up in concern. 

“I’m fine I’m fine. Just some medical stuff. Don’t worry.” Keith waved his hand to dismiss Lance’s uncertainty. “I’m not terminal or anything like that. I just have an imbalance.” Keith poked him right below his eye. “So, don’t worry.”

Lance smiled slightly. “I’ll stop worrying when you eat.” He laughed a little when he realized he sounded just like his mom. “I know it’s more American looking food, but I promise it’s good. They’re like the sandwiches we used to make at home.”

Pidge had one stuffed down her gullet in seconds and Keith chuckled. “Looks like it.” He picked one up and bit into the side.

“Damn! That is good.” Keith grinned. “Feeding me now too? Be careful I might have to keep you.”

“I’m okay with that.” Lance said idly as he ate a little of his own sandwich, smiling slightly. “I like it here. I feel warm and fuzzy being around you because you accept me for me.”

“Nice feeling, isn’t it? Being accepted for who you are. Like no matter what? It’s pretty relaxing knowing you can just be honest.” Pidge flicked a crumb off her finger noticing but not caring about Keith’s glare. 

“Yup.” Lance smiled. “It’s pretty great.”

“Yeah.” Keith cleared his throat and stood up, nodding with his stabilized world. “I could use your help in the work shop today, if you have time.”

“Yeah of course.” Lance smiled and stood when Keith did. “Anything you need.” He blinked when he heard Pidge snicker behind him.

Keith shot Pidge one more leveled glare then took Lance to the back room. “I’m kind of at a standstill for now.” He said as he turned on the light. 

Walking over to the air bike Keith flipped open the hood. “I found a hole in the oil sump, so I gotta find a replacement for that. I just need to get the casing off.” Keith bent over the engine trying to curve his body in a way his shadow wouldn’t block the light.

Lance moved behind him and half leaned over him, so he could see without impeding. “Do you need help opening it? Or do you think you could get it?”

“Do you think you can get your hands in there? I mean I got this side, but other side will fall once I pull this.” Keith’s focus on the case almost distracted him from Lance’s closeness. Almost.

“Yeah, I should be able to. Just let me know how to do it.” Lance murmured and shifted a little, glancing down at him and almost startling himself with how close he actually was.

“You umm.” Keith cleared his throat. “You’ll want to grab there. The corner part and when I pull up, you’ll want to push down.” The smell of Lance’s shampoo started to come in small wafts of air. 

“Here,” Keith’s voice cracked. “On the edge.” He pushed his hair over an ear, gathering it to one side and forcing it over his shoulder closest to Lance. He used it to curtain his expressive face. “Do you see?”

Lance looked where Keith was indicating, and he nodded. “Yes. I see. I can do that.” He reached for the part he was supposed to grab and looked at him again. “Just tell me when.” He smiled softly at him. 

Instead of walking around to the other side, Lance had wrapped his arms under him. Sure it made sense for lighting, but didn’t do much for personal space. Keith heard it; the fast fluttering of his heart, in turn causing the warm flush to go from his cheeks to his ears then down the formally pale slope of his nape. 

“Um… Do you have a good hold?” Keith held in a shiver, recognizing Lance’s body heat pressed against his back. His warmth covered the smaller man from the top of his shoulder down the flank of his back and hip, where it joined with another, less alien sensation of heat in Keith’s body. They were closer now than he’d ever been as Keiko.

“I do.” Lance kept his voice soft because of their proximity. He heard a heartbeat, but he wasn’t sure if it was Keith’s or his own. He wasn’t sure why he felt fluttery in the moment, but he suspected it was because he was too close to Keith, but it would look weird if he moved now. 

“O-okay. Umm pull. Push! I mean push. In um Three. Two. One.” Keith didn’t move, he stayed frozen, held in lock. But his hips had a mind of their own and moved back, pressing into Lance’s warmth, taking a cue from the most illogical part of his male anatomy.

Lance blinked a little and started to push when indicated, but Keith didn’t pull and just seemed to move his body back instead, so he stopped. He turned his head and looked at him, brows furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Keith swallowed, righting his posture. “I-I’m fine. Let’s umm go again. So, in three. Two. One! Push!” Keith pressed in the lock and managed to click his half of the casing open.

Lance pushed again, blinking when the casing popped open. “Oh!” He wasn’t sure if he was startled by that, or that the movement had pushed him even closer to Keith. He was definitely startled by the warmth that filled his body, though.

Keith clasped the side of the hood, his eyes wide, his breath catching. Lance’s movement trapped Keith between him and the air bike. The tight confines leaving Keith with a working assessment of what Lance’s army issued uniform kept secret. Words didn’t form from his trembling lips until the distant chime of the shop’s door cleared his mind, like a fog horn on a placid night, warning of unseen dangers.

“W-we got it.”

“Y…yeah.” Lance pulled himself back and away, his eyes wide. “That was pretty cool…” He looked at Keith and grinned. Focus on the bike, not on the way his body started to react. If he could just do that, then it was fine, right?

“Yeah. Cool.” Keith rubbed the forming sweat from his neck, thankful for the chance to breathe. 

“Are you okay?” Lance blinked a little. “Did you exert yourself too much? Your cheeks are red.” He reached out and touched one.

“I’m okay.” Keith flinched from Lance’s hand, aware now how much his touch could burn him.

Lance didn’t hide the wince as he slowly pulled his hand back, but he quickly shook it off and smiled a little. “All right…I was just concerned because you were a little faint earlier. Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his own neck and looked off to the side. 

“No. I’m-I’m still a bit off. Guess I didn’t sleep too well you know.” Keith stared at his feet. “You’re okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

Keith rubbed his neck again and hurried to the shelf, busying his hands with whatever he found first. “Thank you for your help. You’re free to bug Pidge now. She might want to check the arm piece or something.”

“Oh, okay.” Lance knew rejection when he saw it. He was just really good at hiding the disappointment in his voice. He watched the way Keith put his back to him and fiddled with objects on the shelf. “I don’t believe you, though, I clearly did something wrong.”

“You’re not the one in the wrong.” Keith closed his eyes, gripping the handle of a screwdriver to steady his anxious tremors. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” Keith whispered. “You did everything I asked. Because you’re a nice guy, helping me out.”

Lance watched Keith for a moment, and he watched the way his shoulders seemed to shake. So he walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, one hand grabbing the one that clutched the wrench. “Then why do you seem to be opening up to me one moment and scared of me the next?”

Keith gasped, not expecting to be embraced. “Not because I want to be.” He whispered, watching Lance’s dark hand fold over his. The tremors grew and shook the tender gesture.

Lance kept his arms around him, and he gently squeezed that trembling his hand with his own. “Is it because you blushed when I was close to you before? Do you think I’m going to hurt you?”

“I...” Keith’s throat closed and his whole body tensed. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He wanted Shiro to walk through the door and recuse him from the sensations running rampant, but real life had a crappy way of not delivering on wishes. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? What did you do wrong?” Lance sighed and shifted a little to rest his forehead against the back of his shoulder. “Do…you really think I’d hurt you?”

“Shiro said to be careful around you. That you wouldn’t understand. I didn’t think you’d hurt me.” Keith swallowed, the tremors now in his voice. “More like you wouldn’t want to come around me anymore.”

“What wouldn’t I understand? What could you possibly do or say that would make me want to leave?” Lance sighed and kept his forehead against the back of his shoulder and his arms tightened a little. “Is…it that you like being around me too much?” Why did that idea make his heart pound?

“Part of it.” Keith’s heart beat faster as Lance’s wrapped around him. The arms constricted around him squeezing the last part of his will out of his body. Keith knew Lance could hear it now or feel his heart’s racing pulse travel through the encirclement. 

“Please talk to me…” Lance whispered. “I can’t understand if you don’t talk to me. Please don’t push me away now that you’ve let me be so close to you.”

“I’m gay.” Keith ripped open the wound, there would be no point in dancing around the issue now. “I don’t get it when you’re talking about cute girls or stuff like that, but I nod my head and smile because it’s what I’m supposed to do. But I don’t feel it. The way you talk about Keiko or the way you see women. That’s how I see men. When you hold me like this, it makes me nervous.”

Lance lifted his head from the back of Keith’s shoulder as he processed what he said. It made sense. All of it made so much sense. So he slowly pulled his arms from Keith, only to turn the smaller man to face him, his hands resting on his shoulders. “Keith. I’m sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable or scared.” He managed a little smile. “I won’t stop being your friend just because you like men and not women.”

Keith’s lonely violet eyes found Lance’s more confident ones. “It doesn’t bother you, or disturb you? All those times I touched you?” Guilt settled even heavy in Keith’s gut. He could sit here all day and talk about the inappropriate minor offences he’d committed against his unwitting friend but cowardice prevented the whole truth from exposure.

“So I should be bothered that you’ve touched me just because you’re gay?” Lance shook his head and watched Keith’s face, saw the guilt and the worry there, and he just pulled him into his arms. “You’re my friend. You massaging my arm always made me feel better. I like being close to you. Does me touching you bother you? Do I make you uncomfortable? If so, I’m sorry. I’m just…I was raised in a very affectionate family, so…” But he made no move to let him go.

“L-Lance.” Keith crumbled, his shoulder shaking as he gripped Lance’s shirt. He wouldn’t cry. He didn’t have the right to cry. He didn’t deserve the level of kindness from the man he’d be lying to. “Shiro. I’m… in love with Shiro.” He said the words out loud for the first time in his entire life. They came blurting to the surface. However, now when he came to terms with the silent understanding for years, it felt empty. The concept he struggled with since the moment he understood what ‘attraction’ meant, felt like another lie. Void of anything but the stale tasting words he used to spout it into the same air Keith and Lance breathed. 

Lance blinked a little and looked down at him. So that was it, wasn’t it? Then why did he blush around him? Was he just that embarrassed? Why did Keith’s heart seem to beat faster when he hugged him? Was it just fear? Something tugged at Lance’s chest at that, and he felt…what? Disappointment? Sadness? Jealousy? Confusion? He wasn’t sure, but it was cold, and it was unwelcomed. “Oh, I see.” He forced a little smile to his lips. “Well, then I hope he’s kind to you.”

“He raised me after his dad died. I’m like a brother to him, at best.” Keith turned his head to the side. The loneliness seemed to suffocate him in a brief instant. “He cares about me, he tries to do what he believes is right for me.”

“Well, then it’s his loss.” Lance tapped Keith’s cheek and smiled softly. “Any guy would be lucky to have you. Don’t forget that.”

“It’s not a loss for him. He cares about me, a lot. It’s not his fault it’s not the way I wanted him to. He’s normal. I’m not.” Keith met Lance’s eyes after the gentle tap to his cheek. “I’m okay though. I know where the line is with him. He gets a little weird sometimes ‘cause he worries too much about hurting me.”

“His liking women doesn’t make him normal. You not liking women doesn’t make you abnormal. You’re different, but that doesn’t make you less normal than someone else. It just means you like different people. At least that’s how I see it.” Lance smiled a little. “Though I guess that explains why he was kind of threatening me that second day I was here…”

“He thought I was being a bit too touchy with you.” Keith fought the impulse, but he sunk into Lance’s hug, slipping his arms around his waist and flattening his hands against his broad back. He didn’t understand how he could have been scared of someone so kind.

“Because you were checking my arm? That’s kind of silly.” Lance relaxed a little when Keith returned his embrace. “But it’s okay right? I’m clearly not bothered by you touching me.”

“No, you’re not. Maybe you’re just weird.” Keith puffed out a laugh and lifted his chin. His fingers twitched. He wanted to push them through his hair. Keiko had done it many times the past week it seemed natural Keith. He wanted to tell him everything and know the arms around him wouldn’t move. But he couldn’t. “But it’s a good weird.”

Lance grinned a little. “Thanks. You wouldn’t think I was fun to hang around otherwise right?” He chuckled and kept his arms around him, and he looked up just in time to see Pidge walk into the room and stop. She arched a brow at him, but he simply nodded a little and smiled. She seemed satisfied by that, and she continued on her way. Lance grinned down at Keith. “Looks like we were caught.”

“Oh? Pidge?” Keith lifted himself up. “I suppose I should let you go and get fitted.” A warm flush painted the smaller man’s cheeks, and he didn’t try to hide it. “Oh, umm hey are you by chance, busy tonight?”

Lance let his arms drop when Keith pulled away. He watched his face for a moment, his brows furrowing a little. He knew he was going to see Keiko tonight, but if Keith needed him, shouldn’t he be there for him? Would Keiko be upset with him? “I am.” He said, still watching his face. “But the person I’m seeing is the kindest woman, and if you need me for something, I’m sure she’d understand.”

Keith closed his eyes and smiled. “Another time then? For a drink?”

“Definitely.” Lance rested his hand on his shoulder. “Tomorrow? Whenever you want. We’ll hang out.” He was a little relieved that Keith didn’t seem upset. But Lance also hoped Keith would tell him if he wanted him to cancel his date. 

“Tomorrow it is. You can bring Hunk if you want.” Keith fidgeted then a looked down. He never asked a friend out before. It felt strange, but good.

Lance patted Keith’s shoulder before he pulled his hand back. “If he’s not on duty, I’ll ask him. In the meantime, I’m trusting you to know a good place to go.” So this was what being excited to hang out with friends felt like.

“I can think of a few places.” If Keith had to be honest, he wished he hadn’t asked for Hunk to come with. He had nothing against him. He liked the guy from the stories Lance told him and the food he made. Keith wanted his first night out with Lance to be just them. He had plenty of alone time with him as Keiko but that woman would not be there either. It would be Keith. 

“Great! Then we can make final plans when I come to the shop tomorrow?” Lance kept smiling, his happiness practically radiating from his expression.

“Y-yeah.” Keith blushed a little more and diverted his attention to the shelf his ears a few shades darker and exposing themselves from ebony tresses. 

“Waiting!” Pidge yelled from the next room.

Lance groaned a little, but he left the room, a pout on his lips, his cheeks puffing out. “I was on my way out here.” He half-whined the words to Pidge as he sat down.

“Yeah, didn’t look that way to me.” Pidge smirked. “Looked pretty cozy.”

“But cozy isn’t a bad thing right?” Lance kept pouting, but he looked like he could break into a grin at any moment.

“I don’t believe so. You both seemed pretty happy. You make a cute couple.” Pidge’s grin got wider. 

“Eh?” Lance blinked, and he could feel some heat at the back of his neck. “Well he’s my friend.”

“Oooh, is that what it is? Shoot.” Pidge lifted Lance’s arm on the table and lined it with a contraption baring a striking resemblance to a bronze centipede lying on its back. “I was hoping he’d gotten over his Shiro hero worship thing.”

“What?” Lance moved his arm however Pidge made him. “What do you mean by that? I thought Keith loved him?”

Pidge shrugged. “Who’s to say. If that’s what Keith says, maybe it true. But it seems more confused than anything,” Pidge pursed her lips. She didn’t care for deviling too much into Keith’s business but she adored the older, man and she liked Lance a fair amount too. 

“Set your arm here.” Pidge pointed over the metal creature’s spine. “My dad and Shiro’s father brought Keith home one day. Shiro and Keith grew up together, and after an accident, it was only those two. Shiro vehemently protected Keith and Keith was awed by Shiro. The accident made it worse. I think he developed a crush. It’s natural I suppose, if you’re into good looks, kindness, and muscles. “

Lance set his arm as he nodded. “That makes sense.” He smiled a little. “I really like you both, so I’m glad I get to come here and see you and Keith every day.”

“Reign it in, lover boy. I already got a place to put my undivided attention. You’re too… fleshy and gooey for my taste. But a few more of these babies?” She lovingly pet the front of the brace. “Then maybe.” Pidge tapped the metal bug and it closed around Lance’s arm, the legs wrapping and lacing around Lance’s arm becoming a hinged thatching of clock work.

Lance looked at Pidge blankly, blinking once before he laughed, though he was careful about being Still with that thing on his arm. 

“There, move around with it. How does it feel?”

Lance lifted the arm and moved it a bit, bending his elbow, rotating his arm a bit, moving into positions he would need to be moved into if he was going to go back to work. When he pulled his arm back, he winced a little as the metal didn’t seem to want to move with him. So he moved his arm back in front of Pidge. “It’s great until I move it back to shoot. Then it doesn’t seem to want to adjust to my arm…”

Pidge nodded, expecting those results. “Can you show me exactly where it starts to hurt?”

Lance moved his arm again, pulling his elbow back behind himself as if drawing a bow or holding his rifle. But he only made it about half way before he had to stop. “About here. My arm feels like it can keep moving, but not with this on it. It hurt if I pushed past here.”

“Alright. It’s just a proto-type. The final product will look and feel a bit different. How do your fingers feel?”

Lance wiggled his fingers as he moved his arm back in front of him, clenching a fist too. “This part is fine. They don’t feel pinched or constricted.” He smiled at Pidge. “This is pretty amazing you know.”

Pidge’s expression brightened and for a moment humility and pride fought for dominance. “I know!” The fight didn’t last long. 

“Just a few kinks here and there and it should be fine. I could probably have this done for you in about another week. You wouldn’t have to trouble yourself to stop in every day.” 

“It’s no trouble.” Lance shook his head a little as he kept his arm up so Pidge could do whatever she needed to do. “I really do enjoy coming here. Even when you and Keith put me to work.” He smiled and looked at her, then down at his arm. “Otherwise I’d be on the base all day, hiding in my bunk because going out when everyone else is on duty and I’m still on forced leave is just…not something I want to do.”

“Well maybe we’ll have to keep finding you stuff to do.” A weathered hand clapped down on Lance’s shoulder. 

“Hey Dad.” Pidge didn’t look up from her work.

“Hi Katie. Is Keith here?” A warm smile on his lips for his daughter.

“No.” She said in vocal flatness. “He went out. Might be back later though.” Pidge’s honey colored eyes stared hard at Lance. 

“Oh? Lance is here but Keith’s not? That’s peculiar.” Sam started walking toward the workshop. “I might just take a look anyway. That boy is ninja quiet when he wants to be.” He joked.

Lance blinked at the look Pidge gave him. Why was she lying to her father like that? Did something happen? Was Keith in trouble? Well, he wouldn’t let anything happen to his friend. “Oh yeah he left a few minutes ago. Pidge needed to work on my arm, and he left to go look for some parts and pick up something to eat.” His voice was as perky and calm as normal. He could lie if he needed to, and he felt like he needed to. It would look bad if he hopped up and tried to stop him, so he just hoped it was enough.

“Oh? Is that so.” Sam’s hand rested on the door handle. “Well just in case.” He flung open the door and frown. “Whaddya know.”

Pidge tensed.

“He left the light on. Again. I keep telling him those bulbs are expensive.” Sam sighed and shook his head in dismay. He reached in to turn off the light and shut the door. Locking it. “And he doesn’t lock it? The boy is careless.”

“Y-yeah. You know how he gets.” Pidge feigned disinterest by shrugging her shoulders.

“That was probably my fault.” Lance glanced at Sam and smiled. “I was talking to him about something, and I was asking a lot of questions, so I distracted him. Sorry!”

“No worries. Well I suppose I’ll head down. You got the shop for the rest of the day, Katie?” 

“Yeah. No problem.” The small gear head replied.

“Send Shiro down when he shows up.”

“Will do.”

Lance kept smiling, though he watched Sam carefully, waiting until he was gone before he looked at Pidge with an arched brow. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Just sometimes Dad gets a bit over zealous about Keith’s tests. He tends to push not realizing there’s a human being under the needles.” Pidge hopped down from the stool then checked the clock as if she were counting down to something.

“…Oh.” Lance’s brows furrowed and he looked towards the door. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah. Keith is fine. He has to give blood once or twice a month depending on the weather. Paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria. His body attacks his blood cells when triggered by cold weather.” The floor rattled. Dust kicking into the air and Pidge nodded her head before going to the workshop and unlocking the door.

Lance blinked and looked at her, then at the door again, before he looked down at his arm and clenched his fist a little. “I see…” 

“Don’t let it worry you. Between Shiro and I, we got this.” Pidge stepped in the shop, flicking on the light and lifting the tarp from the engine to find Keith leaning against the dais. “Idiot.”

“Your dad is persistent.” Keith got up and stretched his back. 

Lance carefully unclasped the device from his arm. He had seen it put on and taken off so many times, that he knew how to do it without damaging it. He calmly laid the piece down on the counter and rubbed his arm a bit before fixing his sleeve. He could see the two of them through the open doorway, and while relieved, he couldn’t stop the frown that came to his face. “I have to go.” He stood and turned, just walking to the door of the shop without waiting for any sort of response from either of them.


	4. Kiiroibara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Yellow Rose** _Kiiroibara 黄色薔薇_ \- Jealousy
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> See End Notes for Culture and Translation Notes

Hunk looked down at the small box in his hand. It wasn’t much, just a few dango from the shop next to Shay’s restaurant, but Lance had told him to buy them, so he did. He glanced at the little girl who was leading him to the room, and when they stopped in front of the door, she looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “Wait here. She is not ready for you.”

Hunk simply nodded and looked back down at the box. This was a bad idea. Lance should have just sent a note saying he couldn’t make it. Why did he have to send Hunk? Why did Hunk have to listen to his friend? He knew the answer though. Lance had come home from the shop so utterly depressed that Hunk wasn’t even sure what to do when his friend just crawled into his bunk and cocooned himself in his blankets. He wasn’t sure what to do when Lance’s body started to tremble, and the man was clearly trying to keep himself silent. But when Lance eventually rolled over to turn his reddened eyes at Hunk, he knew he would do anything to cheer his friend up.

And that anything was “Please tell Keiko I’m sorry I can’t make it, buy her some nice dango or something, and then bring me whatever alcohol you can on your way back.”

Hunk sighed, looking back up from the box as the girl slid open the door for him. “She’s ready.”

He nodded and stepped through, looking at Keiko as she sat, clearly expecting Lance, and seeming to slump a little when she realized it wasn’t him. Or was he imagining it? Her poise was too perfect. “Ah…Sorry.” He said. “Lance sent me.” He walked to her and held out the box. “He…Something happened at the shop today. I don’t know what. He won’t tell me. But…I’ve never seen him so upset before. He didn’t want to ruin your mood and take advantage of your kindness when he was feeling this way, so he asked me to come and give you something as an apology.”

Those large violet eyes searched Hunk’s face with a level of pain piercing deeper into the young woman’s soul than the man could have possibly imagined. In a flicker the emotions grew into hard amethyst shards. Their color dulling into unpolished stone as they stared past Hunk. 

“I see.” Keiko whispered. “Well that is unfortunate and please do give my wishes to the young lord.” 

“You must be Hunk. He’s told me many stories of you. It is my honor to have met one as kind and as charitable as you.” She bowed again, his fingers pointed and pushed out in front of her. 

Hunk grinned and laughed a little. “Man, he was right. You’re really nice.” He set the box down and smiled at her. “You don’t have to be so nice to me. I just came to deliver the message. He said he’d still make sure you get the money…He didn’t want to leave you without it.”

“Very well.” Keiko obliged with a demure quirking of her lips but it never made it to her eyes. “Please let Lance know that I appreciate his patronage. And I’ll look forward to our next arrangement.” She accepted the box with gracious hands. “Also, do tell him,” The maiko stood up, her back facing the larger man. “Thank you for freeing me up last minute, and now I’ll have an extra opportunity.’ Momiji can show you out.” She didn’t wait for Hunk to speak, and she stepped from the room slipping the side door shut behind him.

Hunk blinked a little at how abrupt that was. He thought Lance said she was warm and kind? So why did that whole thing feel like the iciest encounter? He shrugged a little and headed back out of the room, glancing at the little girl who led him back down to the door. “Is she normally that…I don’t know…”

“Yes.” The little girl shrugged as she smiled up at him. “Thank you for your patronage kind sir.” 

It was clear Hunk was going to get no more conversation out of the little girl, so he left the building and sighed. He was worried about Lance, and while he knew it wasn’t a good idea to fulfill the last of his request, he also knew he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t. 

Carrying the bottle of sake under his jacket, Hunk returned to their room and put it on the desk. “You were right. She was really pretty,” he said to the lump in the bunk. “She wanted me to tell you thank you for freeing her up for another opportunity, whatever that means.”

The bundle of Lance seemed to curl up on itself and there was a soft whimper. But he said nothing as he slid off the bed and grabbed the bottle of sake, popping it open and just drinking.

“Woah!” Hunk took the bottle from him. “Not like that. You’ll get sick!”

“Don’t care.” Lance mumbled, bowing his head. First he was rejected at the shop, and now it was obvious Keiko only cared about the money, and not about him. It was too much. He grabbed the bottle again and glared defiantly up at Hunk. “Let me get sick. I don’t care.” He drank again.

Hunk frowned, reaching for the bottle again, but his hand stopped when he saw Lance’s expression. This was worse than before. “Just…Just don’t get so drunk that you don’t wake up, okay?”

Lance slowly pulled the bottle away from his lips and looked at Hunk. “Take it.” He held it out to him. “It doesn’t taste good…” When Hunk only looked at him, he sighed and put the bottle back down on the desk before crawling back into bed. 

\-----

“Miss? Hello miss?” Keith blinked a few times, feeling a sense of urgency come through the fog of thoughts, delivered by a voice he knew. He was wholly aware of what he did and the cruelty of it. He couldn’t stop Keiko’s lips lacing the words with poison. Every resinous word, hard and spiteful so Lance could understand one iota of what he’d done to Keith. 

Lance had heard something do disturbing it kept him home. It upset Lance to the point of sickness. Only one incident occurred at the shop to allow for such an intense reaction. Logic made Keith jump to the only thing he could. All Lance’s talk about acceptance, and his pretty words telling him it was okay for Keith to be who he was, were just a snake charmer’s lies. Of course Lance would make nice at the shop. They had his arm. What else was there for him? Keith sniffed. It shouldn’t hurt this much.

“Miss?” Thick hands grabbed Keith’s shoulder and spun him around. “Keith!?”

“S-Shiro?” Keith titled his head up, makeup smeared and hair falling half up and half down his back. Confusion greeted Keith in the most peculiar way. For a split second he saw it. It flashed in Shiro’s black eyes. Keith understood it when he had seen it flicker in the eyes of Lance. He recognized it in other men when Keiko walked past. Desire. Primal hunger forced to cage itself in civilized society. However, in Shiro the expression came before a litany of others. Recognition. Then confusion. Of course anger. Then concern overwhelmed them all. 

“Gods, Keith. What happened to you?” Shiro tilted the painted chin up between his index finger and his thumb. “You’re crying.” 

“It’s the rain.” Keith whispered, his voice breaking under the weight of his breath. He didn’t know how he found himself outside Shiro’s. Last he remembered, he stepped out of the Geisha house and into the street. A short rain shower had basted through Gion at some point, but Keith didn’t remember when.

“Ah. Come on up.” Shiro’s hand slid from Keith’s chin to squeeze the back of his neck. Keith had seen him do as much to other women. Keith’s eyes glanced to the extended hand then up to Shiro. He couldn’t believe the stoic man could be taken in so easily by whispers of silk and lace. Men were pathetic. And has Shiro’s hand slip down to the small of Keith’s back with a guiding touch, The smaller man squeezed his eyes shut. Men are pathetic and he was pitiful. 

\----

Lance pulled himself off the floor. He must have fallen out of the bed sometime last night. A searing pain shot through his head, and his stomach rolled as he tried to push himself up on to his hands and knees. Even the little light that came through the crack at the bottom of the door seemed to hurt. His hand knocked into the empty sake bottle, and it rolled across the floor. The scraping noise like a thousand little needles poking his brain.

“Idiot.” He heard Hunk whisper, stop the bottle, and pick it up. That was all he said, and it was enough to make Lance want to curl back into himself and disappear. He couldn’t. He needed to go to the shop today. He needed to at least give Pidge a way to contact him when the brace was done, since he wasn’t wanted there anymore. 

He felt Hunk’s strong hands on his arms, pulling him up off the floor. He looked at the larger man, and he felt the familiar sting of tears in his eyes. 

“Geeze. You’re a mess.” Hunk sighed and helped Lance sit on the bed. He watched Lance’s head lull to the side and he sighed again, moving to rummage through Lance’s trunk until he pulled out his training fatigues. “These will be better for you today hm?”

Lance didn’t argue as he slowly pulled the looser fitting clothing on. Sure, he hated looking like he was essentially slumming it with a tie waist and a shirt that was just a little too big, but today he didn’t care. Today he didn’t really feel much of anything except the hammer in his head.

“I’ll walk you there on my way to Shay’s.” Hunk handed Lance a bar of…something. Edible. Probably something he had saved for such an occasion. 

Lance looked up at him, nodded, winced, and then slowly ate the bar. He didn’t care that his hair was a mess, though he could feel Hunk ruffling it to try to make it look better. It didn’t matter that his eyes were red and puffy from crying and not really sleeping properly. It made no difference. He was going where he wasn’t wanted. He would have to get used to it. Hunk was his only friend. Hunk was everything when Lance was nothing. He could feel the tears start up again, but he blinked them back as best he could.

Hunk put his cap on his head and pulled the brim down enough to shield Lance’s eyes from the sun as he helped him out of their building. He kept his hand on Lance’s back, trying to show him some support. That hand never moved even when Hunk opened the door to the shop and helped him inside and to the counter, pushing him gently to sit on the stool. 

“Eh? Lance?” Pidge looked up from what she was working on in actual interest, blinking at the way the Cuban just rested his arms on the counter and hid his face there. She looked at the other man that came in with him, arching a brow. 

“Ah. I’m Hunk.” 

“Oh! The good food guy. Hey. I’m Pidge.” Pidge glanced at Lance again, but then grinned at Hunk. “Thanks for that. Thanks for this, I guess?”

“Yeah, well. I’ll come back later to get him if he isn’t already gone by then.” Hunk gently patted Lance on the back. “Listen buddy, you wait here for me okay? I’m going to go get you some food that’ll make you feel better.” He knew Lance wouldn’t respond, so he patted his back again and waved to Pidge before walking out of the shop.

“Yooouuu look like something a dead cat puked up.” Pidge arched a brow before setting a glass of water down on the table in front of him. 

“I feel worse than that…” Lance murmured into his arms, not lifting his head, though the position knocked his cap back a bit. 

“Yeah. I was being polite.” Pidge grinned helplessly. “Keith isn’t here yet. He didn’t come… home?” She trailed off and stared past Lance’s shoulder as the door bell bounced and jingled its jolly tune.

Two figures walked in the door, both seeming to be lacking sleep and the smaller ones eyes red and puffy. 

“Your body okay?” Shiro whispered in his low calm voice while he stroked Keith’s pale cheek with the back of his fingers. “We put it through a lot yesterday.” 

“Mmnmm.” Keith nodded, leaning his head against the warmth of Shiro’s hand. 

“Thank you for staying over. I sleep so much better when you do.” Their voices kept at a whisper but it didn’t stop Pidge from picking up on every hushed word, staring wide eyed at Lance.

Lance felt it before he heard them. The feeling of nausea that churned in his stomach. The little needles stabbing with each word. A chill ran down his spine, and he winced, thankful that his back was to the door, and he couldn’t see the two of them as they walked into the shop. He just wanted to focus on not vomiting all over himself. 

“H-H-Hey guys!” Pidge exclaimed clapping hands together, which inadvertently started up the tea machine. 

“T..tea? Anyone?” She cleared her throat and sat back down, as she caught Shiro’s wide-eyed expression which narrowed as he took in Lance. 

He started forward but a gentle hand touched Shiro’s arm and stopped the built Japanese man. He turned back toward Keith, and the young man just shook his head, his lose hair curtaining his eyes. 

“Alright. I’ll go speak to the old man. You.” Shiro gritted his teeth. “You be careful, yeah?”

“I’ll be fine.” Keith nodded his head.

“All right.” Shiro stepped pasted the counter and threw a glare at Lance before he continued into the hallway. 

“Pidge. I’ll be back. I’m going to shower and get a change of clothes.”

Pidge looked over at Keith and simply nodded her head. All words had gone mute because the one of the greatest minds in all of Kyoto could not figure how what the hell was going on. 

Lance slowly lifted his head when he heard Shiro leave. He didn’t know why the idea of that man made him so angry, but it did. At least anger was better than the mess of emotions he was feeling. And now that he could see Keith leaving too, it only made the feelings worse.

Pidge’s eyes widened when she saw Lance’s face. His eyes were just as red as Keith’s had been, and just as puffy. The man looked even worse than she originally thought, and the expression on his face made it clear that movement and noise didn’t make him feel any better. She lifted her hand and pointed in the direction Keith had gone moments before. “Bathroom, go.”

Lance slowly pushed himself to his feet and pulled his cap back down to hide his eyes as much as he could before he shuffled off in that direction, his hands resting against a wall as he tried to keep himself steady. 

Keith stood at the bottom of the stairs his head turning partially to glare over his shoulder at the woeful looking man. Lance had some nerve to show up at the shop. Getting drunk to the point of a hangover because a guy he knew happened to be ‘gay’ was a whole new way for someone to slap Keith across the face. Having to fake for a few more days must have been a real bitch.

“Tch. If you can’t hold your liquor maybe you shouldn’t be drinking it to solve your problems.” Keith snarked.

That was it. Something in Lance snapped and he lifted his head to look at the other man. “I don’t need that from you, when you’ve clearly gotten what you wanted.” He snorted a bit and frowned. “All that shit you said to me yesterday was a fucking lie. I don’t want to hear any criticism from you.” The needles spiked harder into his head.

“I’m lying?” Keith thought he’d be above it, but right now the regrettable part of human nature which allowed for pettiness came bubbling to the surface. “Let’s talk about you!? Huh? You had ‘plans’ last night?” Keith air quoted. “Spare me. You ended up…” Keith’s eyes widened and he bowed his head, cheeks flaring up red right to his ears. He couldn’t say what he wanted to. He couldn’t explain why he was so mad and so hurt. Lance didn’t know what he knew, but hadn’t Keith already said too much?

“I ended up what?” Lance looked at him, his eyes still shadowed by the hat. Seeing Keith’s face turn red only made him angrier. “Does it matter if I had plans or not? You’re the one who seemed to be just fine anyway.” He practically spat out the words, his fists clenching. Maybe if he hurt another part of his body, the throbbing in his head would lessen. 

“You didn’t show up last night for your ‘date’ with a paid woman.” Keith sniped, his fists clenched. “I heard it was because you were too upset because of something that went down here yesterday morning.” Keith took a defiant step up the stairs to give him a height advantage on Lance. “There’s only one thing that happened to you here yesterday.” 

Keith froze his head tilting to the left, Lance’s earlier words finally catching up to him. “Got what I wanted? What do you think I wanted?”

“Him.” Lance snorted, turning his head up to glare at Keith as he took that step. “So he told you then? He heard from them. I bet you all laughed at me, too, since the only reason anyone seems to want me around is money.” He kept glaring even as he took a step towards Keith. “Even here. And I thought you trusted me, and we were friends. But as soon as I found out you’re sick, and that you get your blood taken…” He huffed out a breath. “I was pretty much told my concern didn’t matter. Why would it? I’m not your friend, I’m just a job with cash to throw around.”

“Wait? What?” Keith shook his head. “What are you talking about? You were upset because I … because of the things I told you.”

“About you being gay and in love with Shiro? What? No. I told you that didn’t bother me. It doesn’t. It bothers me that I’m not actually welcome here.” Lance bowed his head, his shoulders starting to tremble. “I never felt so unwanted….and then I was pretty much told I’m only good for my money last night, too.”

“Will you two take it elsewhere? You’re gonna scare away the customers. If… we had any.” Pidge’s irritated voice came from the shop making Keith wince.

“Come on. Let’s get upstairs. This.. this is stupid.” He took another step backwards. “We need to talk.”

Lance leaned a little bit against the wall. All of this was too much for him. He lifted his hand to his head and just tried to hold himself steady for a moment. He was stupid. He knew he wasn’t feeling well, and he had to go and get agitated and riled up. “No. It’s fine. You said you had to shower after--” 

“You’re white as a sheet.” Keith anger melted and he lifted his hand to rest upon Lance’s cheek. The touch of his fingers warm. “Come on. You can lay down and use my restroom. We really need to talk and I need to apologize.”

“Why…?” Lance murmured. But he didn’t have the energy to argue, so he slowly moved himself up the stairs with Keith, letting the other man lead him into his bedroom, though his eyes remained locked on the floor. 

Keith lived in a small one room apartment. Instead of a dinner table he had a secondhand Victorian couch sitting in the center of his room with a pieced together glass, wood, and brass structure with a flat top sitting low to the ground. Stacks of gearhead books littered the floor beside the bed, the suspension desk, and around the couch. Drawings and sketches of flying machines decorated the room in no visible attempt at organization. The arrangement done by a person who wanted to be surrounded by the things he loved. 

Each detailed drawing bared a similar style to the hand which worked so diligently on the sketches for Lance’s arm. “Umm have a seat. I’ll get you a glass of water. Unless do you want to use the restroom first.” Keith tucked some of his hair out of his face and behind his ear. He wasn’t accustomed to house guests, and he suddenly became very self-conscious about his dwellings. He picked up random books and cups to set them down in more random places.

“I…think I just need to stay still for a bit.” Lance murmured softly, his eyes slowly moved about the room as best they could without him turning his head. The sketches, the little knick knacks. Everything just screamed Keith. He would have found it endearing if he wasn’t so angry, and sad, and dejected, and everything else he was feeling in that moment. He sank to the couch and groaned.

Keith stepped into the kitchen and returned with a mason jar filled with water. “Here.” He touched Lance’s forehead with the back of his fingers. “So, you really didn’t cancel your date last night because you were disgusted with me?” It felt stupid to say now, but when you’re looking out for the next person to hurt you, even the most farfetched assumption is more logical than the idea that some people aren’t that cruel.

“Of course not.” Lance took the water and glanced up at him, brows furrowed. “That…doesn’t even make sense? If I was disgusted with you being gay, wouldn’t I want to spend as much time around a woman as possible?”

“It made more sense last night than it does right now.” Keith sat on the makeshift table in front of Lance and sighed. “When you’re told all your life how much people are going to hate you, ya learn to expect the worst.” Keith reached his hand out to Lance’s knee. “I’m sorry. So what was this about not being needed?” His thumb moved over the fabric of his slacks, trying to soothe what he could before Keith realized how the gesture can be misconstrued and he brought his hand back to his own lap.

“Wanted. I’m not wanted, right?” Lance sighed a little and looked down at him. “I saw how you were after that treatment, or whatever it is. Pidge told me what was going on yesterday. I don’t know what exactly it meant, but I knew it meant you were sick in some way, and I was worried.” He sighed and closed his eyes. ”But…that wasn’t wanted, I guess. Even though I helped her lie to her dad about where you were.” 

Keith let out a long soft sigh. “You are wanted. You’re our friend. If not Pidge wouldn’t have said a word to you. I wouldn’t have said a word to you. I mean, we had a bonding moment. I held you in my arms.”

“Then why did she say…” Lance sighed and rested a hand over his face. “I totally took that the wrong way, didn’t I? Damnit.”

“Yeah. It happens.” Keith flicked Lance’s hat off his head so he could ruffle his hair. “Go shower. You smell like sake. Take a rest and then we’ll go to eat. Just you and me. Okay? I know a really great ramen place.”

“But…” Lance looked at him, brows furrowing. “You have to shower though. You said as much before, after--” His eyes closed for a moment as he forced himself to calm down. Just the thought of those words from earlier gave him a stomach ache. “All right, I’ll shower, but then you have to too.” He slowly got to his feet and went to where Keith said the shower was. He shut the door behind him and slowly peeled off his clothes, turning on the water and watching the way it swirled around the drain. When he got in, he rested his arm against the shower wall, his forehead against his forearm, and he sighed, groaning a bit as the hot water hit his back. But he only stayed in there a few minutes. Long enough to let the water refresh him and rinsing out his mouth enough to get the stale sake aftertaste out. When he was done, he slowly dried off and pulled his clothing back on, hair still wet as he stepped back out of the bathroom. “Okay.” He couldn’t even look at Keith right now.

Keith’s anxiety grew by means of a shaking foot as he waited for the door to click open. When it did his head darted up and he stared at the man who stood in the door and his heart flip inside his chest. The baggy shirt with its loose collar did little to hide the start of a well formed upper body. The way his neck gracefully joined into his shoulders appeared so welcoming. Keith imagined what it would be like to lay his head there, he wanted to rock the troubled man to an easy rest.

“You shouldn’t umm go to bed with a wet head.” Keith stood up got upon his toes as he took the towel and dried Lance’s hair. “Before, when you said I got what I wanted. What did you mean?”

Lance bent forward a little, closing his eyes as he allowed Keith to dry his hair for him. He remained silent while Keith rubbed his head like that, unsure whether he should actually answer his question or not. After all, he didn’t really want confirmation of his suspicions. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to know. If Keith was happy, then he would be happy for him. But should he keep something from Keith? Should he allow there to be another argument because someone didn’t say something properly? “You sounded very happy with him this morning, so I just said that.”

“Miserable. Is more like it. I told Shiro everything.” While Lance might not be aware of what ‘everything’ entailed the idea remained the same. “He took me in last night. We talked and then he let me sleep there.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck. “I know it’s strange, and I torture myself, but he gets nightmares and headaches. Sometimes having someone he trusts in the room beside him eases him. Makes the tension go away. I guess.” Keith slowly pulled the towel away.

“Go lay down on the bed. I’ll wake you.” He finished, throwing the towel over the table.

Lance looked at him when he lifted his head and nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure what exactly Keith meant by all of that, but it didn’t sound like he was actually telling him everything. He wouldn’t press it, though. So he just walked to the bed and laid down on it, his eyes following Keith until he couldn’t hold them open anymore. 

Keith shut the door behind him and leaned his head back against the splintering wood, banging it once then twice with squeezed eye lids. He opened them a minute later and stared at the pathetic creature in front of him with flushed cheeks and puppy dog eyes.

“Someone gives you the smallest bit of attention…” Keith grumbled as took those two steps across the bathroom. His fingers gripped the edge of the sink while the narrow face in the mirror turned up at him in distain. “Is ‘just friends’ a turn on for you or something? He doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know what you’ve been doing to him. You’re a coward. He doesn’t know what you are.” He’s fingers tightened making the sink groan in protest. 

“He’ll hate you. And as soon as the arm is done he’ll have no reason to come here.” Keith kept his voice a low hateful whisper.

“You really know how to pick ’em Kagone. Unavailable and…” a flash of blue eyes and caramel skin filled Keith’s head. “Perfect.”

Shaking his hair over his shoulders, Keith swore at himself. “Damnit.”

\-----

Keith showered with his head pressed against the wall. When he walked out, he wrapped himself up in a robe, his bare feet slapping against the wood flooring as he made his way to Lance’s bedside. The sleeping solider appeared as the picture of comfort and peace. 

Another heavy sigh pushed its way out from deep within Keith’s chest. Lance looked adorable. So much so Keith couldn’t resist pushing his fingers into the sandy locks. “Rest as long as you need.” He leaned forward and kissed the flattened back of his own hand as it laid upon the man’s forehead.

With a plop, Keith bonelessly fell into a chair beside his bed and stretched himself to lay his head down on the mattress. Too proper to share a twin bed with an unknowing man, but too tired to journey to the couch, he reasoned with himself. Resting like this would be okay. He needed it to be okay. He spent so much time telling himself all the things he couldn’t have, he needed to have one moment to relax beside Lance. Without the makeup, without the kimonos. Only himself. He drifted off, his body reminding him of his exhaustion.

Lance shifted a little when he felt the mattress move a bit. His eyes slowly opened and he saw Keith, half on the bed, eyes closed. He just looked so innocent and peaceful, that Lance felt himself watching him for a few minutes. Did Keith know how pretty he was? Lance lifted his arm and gently rested his hand on those dark locks, sliding his fingers through them and reveling in how soft they were. For someone so gruff half the time, Keith really was almost angelic like this.

But half on the bed couldn’t have been comfortable for him, so Lance slid off the bed and lifted him, blinking at how light he actually was. He settled Keith down on the bed before he crawled back in with him, this time pulling the blankets over him since that robe couldn’t have possibly been warm enough, especially when Keith’s legs seemed to prefer being out of the robe rather than in it. 

Once he was sure the movement hadn’t disturbed Keith’s sleep, Lance rested his head on the pillow again and closed his eyes, letting himself drift again. 

Warm. Safe. Something changed and something good. So good Keith leaned into the sensation. He recognized a cool ocean scent. Beaches. Summer nights. Far removed from his waking mind, he couldn’t place the smells. He buried his face into the soft fabric and met with a comfortable yet hard resistance. Not a pillow and not a blanket but it was nice.

Lance curled closer to that pleasant feeling, his arms moving to hold it closer to his chest, not wanting to let it go. He hadn’t felt so good in so long, and his body sank into it.

Sometime later Keith’s nose wiggled; he tried to itch it but his arms couldn’t move. “Hmm.” He groaned. “Itchy.” Fluttering his eyes open and they sprang to full awareness. A body laid with him on his bed! Too small to be Shiro but familiar enough that fear kept itself at bay.

“Ah.” Keith’s breath caught. Lance’s face laid almost nuzzled into his hair, sculpted arms holding him close belying their slenderness with deceptive strength. The growing flush on Keith’s cheeks blossomed into the shade of a rose.

“Keith…” Lance’s voice was soft when he murmured the name. His eyes remained closed, and his breathing steady. He moved his body a little and tried to press himself closer to the warmth that seemed to be moving away from him. 

Keith squeaked. Keith never squeaked. Keith lacked the capacity to squeak. But he still squeaked. Lance had said his name in his sleep. Lance dreamed about him! Not Keiko. Not the army. Not another women. He said the name Keith. His name. He was Keith. And Keith could squeak.

“La-ance.”

“Nnn…” Lance’s eyes slowly opened, but he didn’t quite register what was going on, and he pulled Keith just a bit closer, nuzzling his face into his hair. “Five more minutes…”

Keith’s wide eyes corresponded with his tense shoulders. “O-okay. Five more minutes.” Keith settled against Lance’s chest nuzzling just a little. Screw it. He thought to himself. 

“Keith, you smell good.” Lance’s voice was a little muffled as he pressed his face into his hair. And he remained like that for a few more moments before he realized it really was Keith he was holding this close. His eyes widened, and the world slowly came into focus. Would Keith find it weird? Did Lance find it weird? He wasn’t sure. “How long were we asleep?” Could he play this off as normal? Would Keith think any worse of him for grabbing him like this?

“So do you.” Keith’s voice sounded like a whisper in a dream. “Hmm asleep? A few hours.” The clarity in words started to get stronger, more alert. He kept his head bowed, as he pushed himself up on his hands. Dark black hair split at his neck and fell in equal waves over his shoulders as the robe hung down and loose, showing a tantalizingly indecent amount of skin. He waited until the color barely dusted his cheeks rather than burn them, and he turned his head up to Lance’s face. Amethyst gems stared out at Lance from a raven curtain of sleep tossed threads. “How are you feeling?” 

Lance stared at that exposed skin and only tore his eyes away when Keith’s head moved. He looked at those bright eyes and managed a little smile. “A lot better, and really hungry.” He lifted a hand to push some of Keith’s hair out of his face. “I didn’t make you uncomfortable by moving you from the chair to the bed, did I?”

“You did that?” Keith leaned into Lance’s hand his eyes closing. It felt amazing having another’s hand in his hair and fingers delicately tracing the shell of his ear. “Do you like ramen?”

“Yeah, you’re really light you know.” Lance pulled his hand back and looked at him before he smiled. “I do like it. I mean you said you know a great place right?” 

“Umm yeah. I know a place. Let me put some clothes on. I don’t think others would appreciate this look as much as you.” Keith winked. Hopping off the bed, he grabbed his clothes and scurried into the bathroom. He flirted again! Not the subvert kind of flirting either! Keith squeaked and now flirted. Hopeless didn’t even begin to describe the centrifuge he placed himself in.

Lance’s face turned a deep scarlet As soon as Keith shut the bathroom door. What they hell were they doing? He sat up and ran a hand over his face in an attempt to calm himself down and focus. 

Keith came out of the bathroom moments later. Tight brown leather pants, a straight-line whale boned vest over a brown red and sky blue button down below it. His hair still came down around his shoulders in unkempt locks. “Do you see a tie over there?” He asked as he buttoned the cuffs of his shirt.

Lance looked around and found the tie Keith wanted, grabbing it and holding it out to him as he stood from the bed. He looked Keith over, his lips pursing a moment before he shook his head. “I feel woefully underdressed.” He looked down at himself, at his loose clothing. 

“It’s just ramen. You don’t have to look good. And I think it’s fine. But if it worries you…” Keith thought for a long moment. “I might have some things that fit you. We’re not that different in size.” He took the hair tie and pulled his hair up into a messy folded in pony tail. Stray strands falling in loops at his neck. 

“Well I mean you look good, and I don’t look good.” Lance pouted a little, but he shook his head. “It’s okay. If I was going to change, I would rather go back to the base. I’m shaped differently than you, and I wouldn’t want to stretch anything out.”

Keith blinked then blushed before he smiled. “I’ll be right back.” He walked over to another part of the room, left for a second and came back. The vest and under shirt was gone, leaving Keith in a simple faded red button down fitting a couple sizes too big for him. It hung over his hips and down to mid-thigh. The cinching belt across his waist did little to help the length. “There. Now we match. Better?”

Lance blinked a little and looked at him. “You didn’t have to change for my sake. You still look good, though.” He shook his head a little and smiled at him. 

“Well I tried.” Keith shrugged, trying not to let the compliment fluster him. “Let’s get something to eat.” He nodded toward the door.

Lance nodded and waited for Keith to move, falling into step behind him and watching the back of his head. He didn’t know why he felt so self-conscious around him all of a sudden. Keith saw him before he showered, when he looked like death warmed over with his hair sticking out every which way. He looked better. His hair was its normal happy, fluffy self. His eyes were no longer red with large shadows beneath them. But he still felt more acutely aware of his appearance. Lance chalked it up to being embarrassed and overtired.

“Side door. We can avoid the rabble that way.” Keith pointed to a side exit of the shop, it let him pass unseen by anyone who sat at the front. 

“Okay.” Lance nodded a little and followed Keith out of that exit, looking around and blinking. “So where do we go?”

“Follow me.” Keith motioned with his head down the narrow alley. “Kyoto has a lot of places to go. Have you gotten out much?”

“No, unfortunately. My first day of leave was the first day I came to the shop. I don’t mind though. It’s difficult to enjoy a place when you’re alone. Now I have you.” Lance smiled and followed Keith.

Keith’s lips twitched as he stepped into the street. A mischievous glimmer in his eyes. “Well then. Lance,” Keith reached back and pulled the foreigner out of the alley way and into the crowd. “Welcome to Kyoto.”

Keith stood behind Lance and with his hands on his cheeks he forced his head forward. The thoroughfare, lined with a menagerie of shops, provided a sight of pure Eastern fantasy. In the foreground of a moonlit sky a six-level pagoda lifted from the earth, dark cedar and white wood made up the square base with painstakingly curved and carved wood sweeping up each of the four points of the tiered roofs. Clay shingles reflecting the night sky like the black scales of resting dragon

Keith moved his hands down to Lance’s shoulders, and cheerfully rested his chin there. “This is the Higashiyama District. I’ll take you on a tour after dinner. Sound good?”

“Oooooh.” Lance looked up at the large building with wide eyes. He had been around the streets, but he pretty much only went to the shop or the geisha house, so he never truly looked around. He also never let himself absorb what was going on around him. People were waking every which way, some smiling, some not. Mothers walked with their children, wives with their husbands. Everything just felt so alive, and he started to regret not taking it in sooner. 

“Is that a yes?” Keith arched a brow hiding a tiny smirk.

“Yes! Yes sorry.” Lance looked at him, his eyes still wide. “Is it like this all the time?”

“For the last few centuries I believe.” Keith laughed.

“That’s really cool. I mean, we have villages and things that are old, but nothing like this.” Lance seemed just about ready to skip, bouncing a bit on his toes as he looked around again. “You’ll have to show me everything.”

“First I’ll show you some food. Come on.” Keith tugged Lance along with him. He knew he was smiling, but he couldn’t help it. These streets felt different with someone at your side. “Oh. Look! A gift from France.” Keith pulled Lance in close. “A clock tower. No energy needed. The gears and everything are perfectly tuned. You should hear Pidge go off about it.” Keith waves his fingers at the skeletal scaffolding, standing shrouded in tarps and rope. 

Lance looked up at the clock if only to distract himself from Keith’s proximity. “I’d rather hear you talk about it.” He murmured, but he looked up at the machine in awe. It wasn’t that he hadn’t ever seen stuff like this, but it just felt a lot cooler for some reason. Maybe it was the company.

Keith’s face lit up but tilted away from Lance. “I don’t know much more than that, really. I think the old man has something to do with it.” Keith dodged a bubbling and popping motorbike as he stepped move into the sidewalk and thus into Lance. His chest pressed against his as his hands held fast to the other’s shoulders to keep himself steady. “So-rry… there’s no rules for those yet. So you never know what they’ll do. But um… at least you can hear them.”

Lance’s arm went around Keith’s waist, mostly instinctually, to keep him from falling, but once the motorbike was gone, he didn’t pull his arm away. “That’s not a problem. Are you okay? Did it clip you?” His brows furrowed a little in concern.

“I’m okay.” Keith’s eyes danced between Lance’s, watching the green gas lamps blink on behind his head. He smelled his own shampoo coming from him. The scent mingling with Lance’s natural one. The combination of the two becoming alluring. A smell he knew well became something completely sensual, fresh and light but Keith felt like he could still drown in it. He leaned in a little more. “Are you, Okay?”

“Yeah. You’re not heavy, and you didn’t push me really, so I’m fine.” Lance smiled at Keith, trying to focus on the fact that he was just helping him after a little jump, but he was acutely aware of the arm he had around Keith’s waist, and how good it actually felt to hold him close. But after a moment he slowly let go and looked at him sheepishly. “So…food?”

Keith stepped back, rubbing his neck. “Yeah, food. This way.” He pointed over his shoulder and brought Lance to a small curtained-door shop a few blocks down. 

Matsuri’s was not high end but couldn’t be classified as a hole in the wall either. It had a kitchen surrounded by a bar where ten stools sat circled around. “Master!” Keith yelled in English. A huge man with hairy arms the size of Keith’s head greeted the pair by picking the small man up and hugging him with bone crushing force. Getting dropped on the ground, the two of them spoke softly in Japanese and the man looked Lance over. He had gentle blue eyes but strong Japanese features. 

“English good then?” His voice was rough and New York Italian-ish. 

“Yeah English would be fine.” Keith nodded as he sat down.

“The name is Sal. My dad was American. New York. You know it?” He held a huge burn-scarred but not unsightly hand out to Lance. They were prideful hands. Hands that work hard doing what they loved.

Lance seemed to light up when the two spoke English, and he took Sal’s hand, shaking it. “Yes!” He smiled. “I love New York. I wish I could have stayed longer the time I visited it.” Maybe he had been a little nervous about coming to such a small, clearly intimate type of place, but Keith seemed to pick up on that, or he was already planning this, and now those worries faded away. 

He sat down next to his friend once he was done shaking the other man’s hand, and he grinned widely. It would be impossible for him to be in a bad mood tonight. He was sure of that.

“You seem happy.” Keith turned his head and held his cheek in his hand as he stared up at Lance’s profile. 

“I am. This is great.” Lance turned a little to look at him, still grinning. “Thank you for this.”

“I didn’t do much. Just brought you to dinner.” Keith moved his finger back and forth against the rim of his water glass, his eyes lowered before he heard Sal clear his throat, and the young Korean male sat up straighter looking at Sal then back down like a scolded puppy. He’d been flirting again. “I mean it’s what a friend would do, right?” He turned his head away trying to hide his embarrassment. 

Lance blinked a little, the grin fading when Keith seemed to be a little ashamed of something. What? He had no idea, but he gently rested his hand on Keith’s shoulder and smiled. “Well, I appreciate it. This is my first friend date. I like it. Thanks, Keith.”

“Y-yeah. Of course.” Keith couldn’t turn around yet. If Lance saw his face he’d never forgive himself. Probably blame himself for a litany of crimes against Keith he’d never committed. “Lance, can I ask you something personal?” Keith cleared his throat getting himself composed. 

“Sure. What is it?” Lance looked at Keith, his hand still on his shoulder. Was something wrong? Was Keith not having a good time?

“A.. as a friend… and friends talk about this stuff right? Your friend, who you see at night, she’s a Maiko right?” Keith saw the line drawn in the sand, and his toe inched forward. 

Lance blinked and tilted his head a little. “Yeah.” Where was Keith going with this?

“What are your intentions? Maiko become Geisha and while it’s not the case in all situations…but Maiko are untouched. If someone pays a high enough price the Maiko gives herself to the highest bidder for her first time.” Keith pushed his foot into the line.

Lance looked at Keith, and for a moment, his expression darkened. Why was Keith asking him this? It wasn’t like Lance didn’t already get that feeling based on his time with Keiko, and it wasn’t like his feelings weren’t still hurt by the message Keiko sent home with Hunk last night. He slowly dropped his hand from Keith’s shoulder. “Are you asking because you’re trying to hurt me or because you’re trying to protect me?”

“Protect you.” Keith swallowed his heart pounding. He’d gone too far and he took his foot back, his head hanging down with the weight of his shame. “If you truly love her. You should go to her. You should see her again.”

Lance watched Keith for a moment, but then he shook his head slightly. “She doesn’t care. She made that perfectly clear.” He turned a little so he was facing the counter again, his eyes staring at the grain in the wood. “I will go back tomorrow night because I promised. I won’t break my word, but…” He sighed. “Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Don’t thank me for that.” Keith blinked at the ramen suddenly appearing in front of his face. “Instead just eat your fill okay?”

“I’m going to thank you because I appreciate it.” Lance’s body seemed to settle a bit, and he glanced at Keith again, smiling slightly. “I mean that.” He looked at the ramen and leaned in a little, breathing in the steam and closing his eyes. “This smells so good.”

“Eat. It’s on me.” Keith smiled as he started to eat his own. On a cold early spring night ramen hit the right spot. The vegetables and thin sliced pork sitting in broth eased Keith’s nerves allowing him to relax. He playfully jabbed Lance’s arm with his elbow and made a slurping sound while he sucked the noodles between his lips.

“In Japan you slurp your noodles. Shows the cook respect.” Sal explained with a nod.

Lance was watching Keith out of the corner of his eye, trying to figure out how to eat such a delectable bowl of noodles with chopsticks. He turned a bit red when Keith elbowed him, and he glanced up at Sal. “Oh!” He fumbled a little, trying to get the chopsticks to obey him, and at first he couldn’t pick anything up, not even the pork. But after a few tries, he was able to do it, and he carefully ate, slurping a little just as he was told to do.

At the sound Keith laughed, shaking his head and watching Lance fumble. “Like this, dork.” Scooted closer and placed his hand over Lance’s, slipping his fingers between his. “You need to hold it gently. Let this end rest on your finger like this. And guide it up, careful to not let it press on your lips too much.”

Lance’s face turned a shade of red that he didn’t even know existed, but he let Keith help him despite his utter mortification. “I-” He totally squeaked, which only furthered his embarrassment.

“Something wrong?” Keith lifted his head. “Ah!” realizing how close he’d moved he sat back into his own stood his hands press firmly into his lap. “That was weird. Wasn’t it?”

“Yup.” Sal nodded. “Cute couple though.”

“Sal!” Keith flushed. “We’re not. He’s not…”

A thousand thoughts could have been running through Lance’s head, but even though Keith had pulled away from him, Lance sat completely still, face burning, eyes wide, his hand still poised the way Keith had moved them. Why? Why was his heart pounding in his chest? Why could he not even think of a quick reply or anything? He just slowly lifted his eyes to Sal as though everything he said was true, even though he wasn’t. But he lacked the fortitude to deny it.

Sal looked over at Lance, an eyebrow lifting.

“He’s got a girl he’s seeing.” Keith pressed trying to move the topic off them. “So, no. We’re not.”

“A girl? Who? I know a lot of the girls around here.” Sal’s eye brows wiggled suggestively.

“You don’t know this one!” Keith slammed his hands down on the counter.

“Okay! Okay.. Don’t break my stuff kid.” 

Lance jumped and seemed to snap out of whatever temporary paralysis he had. He turned to look at Keith, brows furrowed. Hadn’t he just implied that there was no way he’d actually have a chance with Keiko? And now he was talking about her like something else was going on. He stared at him for several moments before he turned back to his food and continued to eat in silence.

Keith sat down with a puff of his cheeks and his lower lip protruding out. “I’m sorry. Sal’s not a bad guy. But because you’re with me some people might assume the worst about you.” Keith clenched his fists. 

“The worst about me?” Lance spoke softly. “Being with you is the worst about me?”

Keith tensed then looked away. “You know what I mean. I should be more careful. I-I let my guard down.”

“I’m not bothered by it, Keith.” Lance gently put his chopsticks down and looked at him. “If someone wants to assume, and they’re not being mean to you, I’m not bothered by it. You don’t have to worry about protecting me by telling people I’m seeing a girl.” He managed a little smile. 

“Lance I-” 

“Ohoh. Sal it’s not sanitary. You have an infestation.” A large man stepped into the shop with two other men behind him. Their English broken and the tone mocking enough to make Sal’s eyes narrow. 

“I already gave you a warning Jin. If you want to eat here, you shut your mouth. I don’t want trouble.” The owner said.

“Trouble? Me? I’m doing a service.” Jin stepped up behind Keith and the Korean’s shoulders stiffened. “You have gokiburi. And it has a tiny gajin with him today.” 

Keith’s lips curled into a sneer. 

“Shirogane isn’t here to protect you today?” Jin scoped out the restaurant. The motion exaggerated given the small space. “Out on your own?” His hand slid up Keith’s back and gripped his narrow shoulder practically enveloping it.

Lance turned and looked at the man who touched Keith, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t touch him.” He murmured, but there was force behind his words. Sure, the guy was bigger than him, but Lance would at least try to protect his friend. 

“And what are you gonna do? I thought you Americans were supposed to look tough. You don’t seem too tough to me.” The hulking figure drew back a meaty hand and swung square for Lance’s face without warning. 

There was a crack of contact. “Not tough at all!” Jin went in again to finish the job he started, but his hand stopped in midair, caught by delicate fingers wrapped half way a his swollen wrist. Jin looked startled as he stared down at the smaller man who meet his glare with shard sharp amethyst eyes. A smirk on his lips bearing a single wolfish fang.

“I’m gonna let you in on a secret.” The sound of cracking and stressed bone accenting his words as Keith bent Jin’s wrist back, bringing the harsh faced man down to his height. “I wasn’t the one Shiro was protecting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation/Culture Notes  
> As mentioned before Maiko are Geisha in training. While Geisha are NEVER to be confused with prostitutes there is a coming of age ceremony known as **mizuage**. Because of the book Memoirs of Geisha this concept has been grossly misunderstood (among other things). Strictly speaking the mizuage is just the transition of a Maiko to a Geisha. What this process traditionally entails is... iffy. Some have translated it to be the selling of virginity and thus stepping into womanhood. Others say that it is an elaborate ceremony where the Miako is given the final resources and tools needed to be a full fledged Geisha. For the sake of drama and because Lance wouldn't know any better Keith is purposely explaining poorly. 
> 
> gokiburi - An unfortunate slang for Koreans in Japan. Literally means cockroach
> 
> gaijin - Literal meaning is Foreigner/outsider. However it is considered impolite and borders on a racial slur. The formal and polite way to refer to foreigners is gaikokujin (Person of an outside country)


	5. Edelweiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Edelweiss** _Ēderuwaisu エーデルワイス_ \- Courage and Strength
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)

A series of Japanese curses exploded from the large man’s lips as Keith dragged Jin toward the door. If the sight of a man half Jin’s size treating him like a temperamental child wasn’t laughable enough, the effortless ease in which Keith did it was. He even spared a curt nod of apology to Sal before throwing Jin out into the street.

Keith folded his arms and stood in the entry, glaring at Jin. His eyes shifted to provide a slow glare to the lackeys who followed.

“What? You gonna tell me not to come back?” Jin sneered holding his wrist, still in a state of bewilderment.

Keith checked over his shoulder at Lance and his reddening cheek. “Nah.” In a bat of an eye, his lithe frame and whipping black hair flew through the air. Keith spared little mercy as his foot made direct contact with Jin’s jaw and pushed out with dislocating force. 

Lance looked at the commotion outside, glancing at Sal and sighing. “I’m really sorry about this.” He stood up and lifted a hand to touch his cheek, wincing a little at how tender it already was. While that jerk hadn’t been able to knock him off his stool, Lance would end up with a black eye from this, and the thought angered him even more.

He calmly stepped out of the shop, but kept himself back so he would be out of Keith’s way as the man doled punishment on those who ruined their night. He watched his friend, mesmerized by the way his body seemed to move with the grace of a dancer but with the ferocity of a tiger.

Keith fell back beside Lance, his eyes sparkling and the predatory grin on his lips widening. His hair, broken free of the binding, settled lose and wild around his shoulders. Keith was loving this!

Lance was seeing a side of Keith he didn’t expect, and it made him a little giddy. Keith looked genuinely happy to teach those idiots a lesson, and Lance was happy to watch it.

Keith winked. “Sorry about this.” He pushed Lance’s torso down, then used the Cuban’s back to dodge a punch then roll over him. Slender muscular legs fanned in the air, delivering a one, two kick into the chin of a man coming up behind Lance. While Keith landed on Lance’s left, his arm connected with another opponent. In the same breathe his leg came up to catch Lance and pull him back onto a standing position.

Lance stumbled a bit, eyes widening even as Keith prevented him from falling. “At least warn me if you’re going to use me as some sort of prop.” He mumbled and ducked as another man swung at him, this time sweeping a leg out and knocking him flat. “Hey. Wait your turn. He’ll get to you.”

“You looked bored!” Keith yelled as he floored the third man, then landed on and straddled the one Lance swept up. He stretched over the man, arms nonchalantly folding across his chest. The young man had a forced scowl on his fresh looking face, but he couldn’t hide flush spreading over his cheeks. Keith’s eyes glinted in feral delight as he jerked the man up into a vicious head butt. Letting him fall to the dirt, Keith sprang back up to his feet. “Three out of four.” 

Lance watched Keith knock the third man out, a frown curving his lips. He quickly reached out and pulled Keith away from that third man, kicking him in the side even though he was passed out. His frown deepened as he turned to look at Jin, but he didn’t let go of Keith’s arm yet. 

The pull on his arm forced Keith into Lance, his hip leaning against Lance’s leg. Startled, he blinked at Lance but that was all he was willing to show. 

Jin stumbled to his feet. His dislocated jaw hanging offensively off to the side. Garbled words drooling out of his mouth as he tried to yell a mix of assumed curses and commands at the men. 

Keith jerked forward his arm raised until the distant screech of a whistle brought him to a sudden stop. “Damnit police! Come on!”

“Wait wait! Here.” A gruff voice came from inside the restaurant as Sal pushed up the half curtain and presented the boys with a bag. “No half plates at Sal’s and no discounts. Get out of here. I’ll let them know what happened.” 

“Thanks Sal!” Keith hopped back to him with a wide fanged smile on his face as he grabbed Lance’s hand. “Come on!”

Lance nodded, but he paused for a moment to lean over to Jin, who seemed to be having trouble staying upright. “I might not be good at fighting,” he murmured, “but I’m really good at making people, and their families, disappear. You may want to remember that for next time.” He grinned and tugged on Keith’s hand so they could move a bit faster. 

Keith chimed with syllables of laughter as they raced down the street. Pulling Lance into an alley way he smirked “What was that all about?” 

“He bruised my handsome face!” Lance pouted as he was pulled. “Of course I had to threaten him and his family.”

“He did.” Keith pouted. “Poor thing. You’re handsome though. It’s just gonna be a bit colorful for a few days.” Keith darted into the side door of the shop. The shop front was dark and empty but he still pulled Lance in close behind him. “Shh… quietly.” 

Lance nodded, instantly going quiet and looking around. Everyone was gone? So they were alone? Or was Keith worried Sam would come looking for him again like yesterday? He followed Keith up the stairs quietly, doing his best not to make any noise.

Keith locked the door behind him once they got into his apartment. He opted to light the inner lamps rather then hit the switch. Two simple brass lanterns sat in a pair on the low glass top table. Once ignited the flames flickered and danced, displaying eerie shadows to pulse on the walls. Their glow followed Keith about the room growing and lengthening more than the tiny tongues should have allowed. 

“Lay on the bed, I’ll get something out of the ice box for you. Okay?” Keith set Sal’s bag down on the counter and bent over a small box. When he lifted the lid curls of white mist lifted and sank down the stone sides, spilling across the floor and dissipated as it spread itself too thin.

Lance sat on the bed, rather than lay down, so he could watch Keith. So much adrenaline was pumping through his veins, that he would have been too restless just laying back and waiting. So he watched. He observed. He found his eyes locking on the curve of Keith’s backside as he rummaged over the smoking box. “Keith…I…” But he stopped himself from saying anything. He wasn’t even sure what he would have said. He was confused, unsure, and the last thing he wanted was for that to upset his friend.

“Did you say something?” Keith whirled around while wrapping a chunk of ice in to a cloth. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over the man. When Keith frowned the lamp light flickered, acting as if trying to adjust its brightness until Keith looked satisfied. He turned Lance’s head left then right.

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a good one. Here.” With too gentle of a touch, Keith pressed the cloth to Lance’s cheek. “Sorry you got involved in that.”

“I’ve had worse.” Lance laid back when Keith guided him to. He closed that eye and let Keith hold the ice to his face. “I mean, no one wants a black eye, but I’ll take it over being shot any time. Besides, I didn’t like what he said to you. And if he was smart, he wouldn’t have done it at all. Looks like you got them good though.” He grinned a little. 

“That…” Keith looked to the side sheepishly. “Was a lot of pent up anger. Koreans aren’t a national favorite. But I’m here. So whatever, right?” Keith shrugged his shoulders. He scooted closer, his hip pressing against Lance as he kept holding the cloth.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Lance closed his other eye and tried to relax, though he was consciously aware of the way Keith’s hip touched his. He had to think about something else. He had to remember that Keith was in love with Shiro, and he was just being nice to Lance because of their friendship. He had to remember that he liked Keiko. Well, he did for sure up until last night. He was still angry about what she said to Hunk. And he didn’t want to be looking for affection from Keith as a way to escape the pain he felt from that stinging remark. That wasn’t fair to either of them. But he couldn’t help enjoying it. He couldn’t help thinking about what might happen if he just turned and kissed Keith. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t jeopardize things like that. He respected Keith too much, and he would never recover if Keith hated him.

“Hey.” Came Keith’s soft voice. “Stay with me.” He lifted and smoothed the worry lines on Lance’s forehead with his thumb. The motion bringing Keith down to his elbows and all but laying his body over Lance. “How’s your cheek feeling?”

“I’m not going anywhere…” Lance whispered and opened that eye again, which widened at Keith’s proximity. “It hurts…It’s cold. It stings. How should it feel?” Keith was too close. Too close! How was he supposed to keep this resolve?

“Well it’s going to. He hit pretty hard, huh?” Keith’s warm expression teased the smallest curling of his lips. “And your arm? No one hurt that?”

“My arm is how my arm’s been.” Lance watched him with that one eye. It was weird, having Keith so close when he had an eye closed. But he looked at his lips, at the slight smile there, and it took all his willpower not to move. “My pride is a little wounded though.”

“What can I do to fix that?” Keith’s gentle smile became an all-out grin not hearing the flirt in his own voice, but he couldn’t deny room’s settling mood. He didn’t know what caused it. The high from the fight coursed through him still, but he felt warm and tingly from his scalp down to his toes. 

Lance couldn’t stop the flush that came to his cheeks, and his eye widened. Was Keith flirting with him? Was he messing with him on purpose? “Eh? Fix my pride? I don’t know. Can you make the bruise not happen?” He knew that was impossible, of course, but he needed something, anything, to keep himself from leaning up, and if diffusing that flirtation helped, he needed to try right? “Keith, I—“ He paused for a moment. “I’m still hungry.”

“Hm?” Keith watched Lance’s eyes, seeing the way they became nervous and fidgety. The harsh reality sunk in. “I-I can’t. I’m sorry. It’s because you were seen with me.” He grabbed Lance’s hand and placed it on the cloth. “Here. Hold it. I’ll heat up what Sal gave us.”

Keith slunk from the bed, feeling shame burn his cheeks and any grace or suggestive sway he had to vanished. Lance was straight. Keith understood it and knew the unfairness of his actions. The cruelty of them. Lance needed a friend. Not some idiot with a stupid crush. He shook his head the atmosphere empty of everything but thick scent sweet scent of lamp oil. 

“What are you talking about?” Lance held the cloth to his face as he sat up, brows furrowing at Keith’s sudden change in demeanor. Did he upset him? That was the last thing he wanted. “Keith, this isn’t your fault. Some idiot was an idiot, and I mouthed off.” He sighed.

“Because of me. I warned you. Remember?” Keith placed a pot on the stove and with a few clicks and a rumble the stove started a gentle humming vibration. “No way around that. Thank you for trying to make me feel better but that’s the simple truth of it.” 

He took a few glasses down. “Water?” 

Lance bowed his head and closed his eyes. “No thank you…” He said quietly. That feeling from yesterday was starting to creep back, and he could feel himself tensing just at the thought of Keith being upset. “Should I just go back to the base?” He asked quietly. “Would that be better for you?”

Keith blinked, his arm wrapped around his midsection while he stirred the pot. “You can stay. I’m sorry I made things weird.” Keith stated bluntly. “I won’t do anything. I’m not some creep who can’t take a hint. I got caught up. It’s my fault not yours. You don’t have to go.” 

“You only made things weird when you started saying bad things about yourself.” Lance sighed and pulled the cloth off his face, getting up and walking over to him. He rested a hand on his shoulder and sighed. “Keith, I don’t think those things you seem to think I think.”

Keith twisted his shoulders toward Lance but kept his head directed at the floor. He fidgeted for a moment until eyes found their way up. “What would those things be? You’re straight? I’m a guy. I’m your friend. You’re my first friend outside of this damn shop. I don’t want to lose that because I got carried away and did something stupid?” 

“But you didn’t do anything stupid, Keith. I don’t think you’re a creep or anything.” Lance shook his head and offered him a smile. “I’m still here, right? I don’t want to leave, even if you tell me to leave. You’re not going to lose me because I don’t want to lose you.”

Keith shook his head and gave Lance an incredulous smile. “You should save lines like that for your maiko.” He sighed. “But thank you.”

Lance frowned a little. “So I shouldn’t say the things I mean to you because you’re my friend? I should say them to someone who has made it perfectly clear that I’m just a source of income for her?”

“Maybe she misunderstood. Maybe she was looking forward to seeing you and acted irrationally to disappointment.” Keith stepped away from Lance to set the food up on the table. Lying became easier when he didn’t have to look Lance in the face.

“Maybe.” Lance watched him, letting his hand fall to the side. “You don’t have to defend her, you know. I would prefer you didn’t. It doesn’t make me feel any better about any of it…it only makes me feel worse. Like I’m the jerk for being hurt by it.”

“You’re not a jerk. No matter the reason, what she said was cruel.” Keith stared into the flicking wick of the lamp. “Do you hate her now?”

“No. Not at all.” Lance sighed and put the cloth back to his eye. “I guess I just always kind of knew, deep down, that our relationship was just a transaction. I was just kidding myself, I guess. To hear that stated so bluntly was just more than I could handle, especially since I was already upset thinking I wasn’t welcome here.”

“What do you want to do then Lance?” Keith turned around, stood within lamp light. “In these moments it’s important to decide what’s worth hurting for.”

Lance looked down at the floor as he held the cloth to his face. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Keith right now. “I don’t understand you.” His voice was quiet. Why was Keith pushing this? Did Keith want to push him away? Was he trying to upset him on purpose? What did Lance do wrong? All of those things swirled in his head as he tried to come up with an answer, but why did he have to come up with one right now?

“No?” Keith sat down on the couch, leaning against a stack of magazines so loved and read through the pages were lose and falling apart even the shifting of his weight caused another page to fall. Water damage on another telling the story of one man’s trash was another gearhead’s treasure. Now they were his shield. “That’s okay. You don’t have to.” He ruined their night already by not reigning in his temper the restaurant, and now he was doing because he couldn’t keep his damn insecurities in check. Sometimes the world wanted too much from. Keith itched at his shoulder. It always wanted too much. He would retaliate, and this was the result of him actively trying to take just a little something back. 

“But I want to, I just don’t know how to.” Lance murmured before he nodded a little, though he kept his head bowed.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to talk like I have any idea what you’re going through.” Keith rubbed his neck. How could he salvage this? Could he salvage this? “Um, tomorrow. Are you free in the morning? I’d like help on the bike again. If you can.”

“I was going to come here tomorrow anyway.” Lance took a few deep breaths before he slowly lifted his head and looked at Keith. “Not tomorrow night, but another night, can we do this over?” He bit his lower lip a bit, shifting slightly since he was still standing, and he felt pretty awkward. “And, should we finish eating? Or…did I ruin that too?”

Keith couldn’t take it and without another word he wrapped his arms around Lance. Squeezing as he laid his forehead against his shoulder. “You didn’t ruin anything.” He kept his head bowed, not trusting himself to make eye contact.

“Then neither did you.” Lance’s arms came around Keith and he held him close, pressing his face into his hair. 

Keith started at the intimate embrace, but he closed his eyes, relaxing and allowing the strength in Lance’s slender arms to hold him up. He felt nothing like Shiro. A hug from Shiro was warm, protective, and safe. A hug from Lance felt a little awkward. Very unsure. But never stifling. It accepted of all parts of the person he encircled. He offered protection, but not from the world. His protection was for being out in it. No matter what Keith wanted. No matter where Keith went, those arms could be there to catch him and guide him. 

Lance held Keith a little closer, breathing in his scent. It seemed warm and familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where else he would have smelled something like this except when he was with Keith. Oil with a little hint of flowers. “Keith…” He whispered and pulled back to look at him, blushing as his stomach rumbled. 

Keith curled himself in. The attention starved part of him breaking free for second longer. “Just a little more and I’ll give you all the ramen I have left.” His voice came out as a delicate whisper against the shoulder of Lance’s shirt.

Lance felt his heart jump in his chest, and he kept his arms around Keith, wanting to give him everything he could have possibly wanted or needed in that moment. He looked down at the smaller man and smiled. How could anyone want to hurt someone so precious? “Okay, but you have to let me stay the night too, since it’s a little late for me to get back to base now.” 

“Hmmmm.” Keith nuzzled, as Lance’s scent came around him, now with only a whisper of his soap. “Your base or Hunk won’t miss you?”

“My base will get over it. They put me on leave anyway. Hunk knows where I am.” Lance shook his head a little. “It’ll be fine.”

“You know.” Keith pulled away, keeping his head down and allowing his voice to trail off. He wanted to scold Lance for being too kind or for giving him false hope but he couldn’t. Keith smiled instead. The expression wiggling his ears the faintest amount. “I’m betting the ramen is getting cold.”

“Then we should eat if before it does.” Lance smiled and let go of Keith since it seemed to be the appropriate time, even if he didn’t want to.

Keith grabbed a binder from the table and pulled his hair up off his neck, twisting the bind around it before leaning over the two bowls of broth meat and noodles.

Lance watched him for a moment before he sat down and smiled a little. There was a light throbbing around his eye, and he knew he couldn’t have looked good. He was just glad he was too hungry to go check the mirror.

“I’ve heard woman like bad boys.” Keith grinned after a noodley slurp as if he could hear Lance’s thoughts. 

“I’m hardly a bad boy,” Lance muttered, “I look like I got sucker punched. I mean I did, so that’s true, but—“ He shook his head and ate. It was still delicious, even if it wasn’t steaming hot like it had been in the shop. 

“Defending the honor of a friend.” Keith smiled with a sweet boyish twinkle in his eye. “You could sell it like that, if you wanted.” 

“I didn’t do a very good job.” Lance pouted as he looked at Keith. “And you clearly didn’t need my help, not that I could have helped anyway. I’m awful at fighting.”

“We all have our strengths.” Keith stirred the broth, watching the flakes of nori and spices dance around each other. “Still, thank you for defending me. Even if you think I didn’t need help, you still went that far for me. So um yeah, thanks.”

“Well, he was a jerk.” Lance put his chopsticks down, shrugging a little. “And he’s lucky I’m not allowed to bring my guns off the base, or he wouldn’t be alive right now. If I was in my uniform, the government wouldn’t stop me from punishing him for the assault. Not that I’m like that, but some of the other guys are.” 

“But that’s what I like about you. You’re not like the other guys. Those are the ones Shiro worried about. Like I’m too naïve.” Keith lifted the bowl his lips, smiling with near feline pleasure as the warm broth slipped down his throat. 

Lance took the cue to drink the rest of his ramen, since he had eaten all the good parts. His cheeks flushed a little when he did so, feeling a little embarrassed at how simple this was but how weird it felt. “I’m pretty sure Shiro hates me, so I’m not sure it matters if I’m not like them.” He put down his bowl and looked at him.

“It matters to me.” Keith strummed his fingers over his knees. No one had the right to be as adorable as Lance did with a strawberry flush over caramel cheeks.

Lance couldn’t help the grin that came to his lips. “Well, then I’m okay. Your opinion of me matters to me more than anyone else’s does.” 

“Well good. I’m glad you feel that way.” Keith tapped his feet on the floor. “You want to sleep on the bed?” 

“I can sleep on the couch or the floor if that’s easier for you. I’m not here to cause problems.” Lance smiled at him.

“It’s not a problem if you sleep on the bed.” It was a big problem. “You should be comfortable and what if you slept wrong on your arm?” Keith cocked his head. This was major problem, but he didn’t care. He wanted to share a bed with Lance even if nothing happened and nothing would.

“As long as you use it too. I refuse to displace you in your home.” It wasn’t like they didn’t already nap together, and Lance felt safe and comfortable around Keith.

“Yeah. I mean. That’s fine.” Keith rubbed his neck trying to hide his nervousness. Sleeping next to Lance didn’t compare to sleeping near to Shiro. No matter how in love Keith thought he was with Shiro, he never experienced the same spark or giddiness.

“I don’t snore.” Lance smiled a little. “So you don’t have to worry about that.” The blush on his cheek was fading, but it hadn’t left completely.

“I don’t know what I do. I’ve never woken myself up.” Keith shrugged without a notice to the level of his innocents he just imparted on Lance.

“Shiro hasn’t said anything to you?” Was that a little bit of bitterness in Lance’s voice? “Then you’re probably fine.”

“Shiro? Why would he? Last time we shared a bed I was ten.” Keith shrugged. “Otherwise I have a futon he takes out of the guest room.” 

“So last night?” Lance looked at Keith, one brow lifting. 

“I slept on the floor, on the futon.” Keith blinked. “Shiro gets nightmares sometimes. Recently they’ve been pretty bad, like he can’t sleep type of bad. I guess the easiest way to put it, he doesn’t like sleeping alone. So when he can’t get one of the girls, I’m the next option. I’m his only family left.” Keith winced but realized the action came from habit, not because he felt bad about it.

“Then why was he talking like you two were a thing now?” Lance sighed and relaxed. Why was he so tense about this? Why did he care so much? Why was he relieved?

“When?” Keith blinked a few times and the look of confusion on his face was pure honesty. 

“This morning when you two came in.” 

“This morning? Oh.” Keith lowered his eyes and turned his head. “More of the same. We didn’t do anything. I came across him, he’d just finished with some work and I wanted to clear my head so he let me help. I stayed with him overnight and he managed to get some sleep. Why are you asking?” Keith blinked, realizing how strange the line of questioning was. 

“Well, you like him, right?” Lance shook his head. “I thought if he returned your feelings, you could be happy, but if it’s not like that, he shouldn’t have been that way towards you.”

“He’s wary of you. He knows you know.” Keith blushed. “I told him you’re not into guys. That he didn’t have to worry. I guess he was just being protective.” Keith stood up stretching his back out. “I’m going to wash up and go to bed though.”

“That wasn’t protective…” Lance shook his head and looked at him. “But if you’re sure it wasn’t purposely trying to anger me, then I’ll accept that.” 

“You were mad?” Keith stepped into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack so he could hear Lance’s reply. 

“Yeah a bit. There was no reason for him to speak to you in English and imply you guys had sex unless he purposely wanted me to hear it. And I know you like him…” Lance looked in the direction of the bathroom just in time to catch a glimpse of Keith pulling his clothes off in the mirror. He quickly looked away, his face flaring up, and he continued. “And why would he make it sound like it was like that before? I mean you told me he didn’t like you like that. So I was mad he was taking advantage of you.”

“He doesn’t. And he wouldn’t. He put me to work so he was worried about my body. Sex was the last thing on Shiro’s mind. Believe me.” Keith came into the living room, lose shorts and a simple undershirt. He sat down upon the bed legs crossed. “Shiro would never intentionally hurt me. I know that much.”

“I—just,” Lance said as he shook his head and stood. He walked over to him and looked down at him. “But He was trying to get to me…”

“To scare you away from me.” Keith leaned back so he could see Lance. “He thinks everyone is out to get me. And maybe he’s right. But he was wrong about you.” Keith shrugged, a bit smug.

“But why would I be scared away from you if he was essentially talking about you two having sex?” Lance sat on the bed and looked down. “I don’t understand. That’s not scary.”

Lance seemed really stuck on the sex stuff and it was taking all Keith had to remain collected enough to rebuff him. “I don’t know. Maybe he thought you were interested.” He cast a look at him before pushing his eyes back down to the ground.

“Interested in your sex life with Shiro?” Lance shook his head. “That’s not something he should just be talking about so casually. That sort of thing is between you two. I have nothing to do with that.” He frowned slightly. So it was true? Keith seemed rather unconcerned that Shiro had said those things. He wasn’t even remotely embarrassed. 

Mortification didn’t even begin to describe how Keith felt, he couldn’t even lift his head. “I-I don’t have any sex life. Least of all with Shiro.” 

Lance looked at the top of Keith’s head before he ruffled his hair. “Well, then he shouldn’t say those things. Do you want me to tell him to stop?”

Keith flinched and gave Lance a sidelong glance, searching his eyes for some hint as to why it bothered the Cuban so much. “It’s okay. If not for that, we wouldn’t be here right now, right?” 

“What do you mean?” Lance looked at him, confusion crossing his face. “Do you think I’m only here because of what Shiro said this morning? Did I make you feel like that? If so, I’m sorry. I’m here because you’re important to me, and I want to be here…”

“You were so mad, you chased me down. Remember?” Keith implored, lifting his hand to rest on Lance’s leg taking it back the second he realized he’d did it.

“I didn’t chase you down because I was mad… Pidge told me to follow you to get to the bathroom and then we argued a little. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to be here.” Lance looked at him, then ruffled his hair again, smiling slightly. “But we don’t have to talk about it hm? You look like you’re tired.”

“Yeah. If you keep messing with my hair like that.” Though the smaller man did start to lean down. Keith had a few weak spots. His hair. His neck, and a few other places he didn’t wish to think about. Instead he wanted this. Soft voices, a warm bed, and a gentle atmosphere. He laid on his side, with bedroom eyes flickering up at Lance’s face. “You’ll tell me if I do anything in my sleep?”

“I will.” Lance finally laid next to Keith and smiled at him. “Unless it’s so cute, I decide not to tell you because you’ll get embarrassed and not want to do it again.” He chuckled softly.

“Cute?” Keith’s eyes snapped open and he flushed. “Guys aren’t cute. They’re umm aesthetically sophisticated with rough charm, but not cute!”`

“Okay okay.” Launce chuckled again and closed his eyes. “Let’s just get some sleep.” Did Keith know how cute he actually was? He had to, right? Lance couldn’t handle it.

Keith slipped to his side, scooting back so he had the smallest contact. His calf pressed to Lance’s leg while the narrow curve of his back rested up against Lance’s hip. His warmth radiated into Keith, relaxing and exciting the young man at the same time.

Lance remained still as Keith made adjustments. He could feel the other man’s body against his own and he felt very warm very quickly. He was sure it was because he was becoming more aware of him. That he was attracted to him, though he hadn’t ever really been attracted to another guy before. And he was sure it had nothing to do with Keith’s inclination. He had been feeling this way before Keith told him he was gay. So what did this make Lance? Was this something he should act on or bury? Was his mind messing with him? He wasn’t sure, but he knew he needed to figure himself out before he did something that would ruin everything.

“Good night, Lance.” Keith’s sleepy voice mumbled until his breathing evened out and his eyes closed.

“Good night, Keith.” Lance murmured and turned his head, watching how easily his friend seemed to be able to sleep. If only he could be so lucky.

As it turned out, Keith did do a few things in his sleep. First there where the soft murmurs and gentle whispers of content sleep. Secondly he sought body heat. He turned in the night and curled into Lance’s side. Face against his chest, arm curled up so his thumb was at his full whimpering lips. 

Lance had just fallen asleep after staring at Keith’s cute sleeping face for who knew how long, but that movement against his chest caused his eyes to slowly open. Keith was still asleep, at least, or he would see how red Lance became. He took a shuddering breath as he tried to calm himself down. Yes. He was definitely attracted to him, and no, it wasn’t just his mind that was sure of it. His body was, too. A flash of heat shot through him, and he stared up at the ceiling. What did people think of during times like this? Cold water? Their grandmother? How could Lance think about anything other than Keith’s thigh being dangerously close to his most excitable part? He had to keep Keith from shifting even more than he already did, or this could be a disaster. So he wrapped his arms around him and moved himself just enough that even if Keith curled in more, he wouldn’t touch that.

“Nnn Lance,” Keith’s low sleep addled voice whispered. “Mm. You’re warm.” He sunk unto Lance’s arms while his own looped lazily around his stomach, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.

Damn it! Lance whimpered quietly and held Keith just a little closer. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep now.

When morning came Keith once more found himself surrounded the perfect blending of beach and spice. The smell invaded his nose and left his heart ravaged, trying to break free from his chest. Lance had to know what he did to him. Though Keith didn’t mind. Not yet. Being held and holding someone felt good, even in the platonic sense. If Keiko had been a real person, what would she say about this? Keith smirked entertaining the thought as if he’d somehow won against someone.

“Lance?” Keith tilted up, blushing as Lance continued to nuzzle his hair. “Hey, Lance?”

“Mmm…” Lance’s face nuzzled more into Keith’s hair, and he murmured slightly. “Five more minutes.” He whispered, trying to absorb some of the warmth that he was holding closer to himself. He had actually slept decently, even if he had a hard time falling asleep, and now he was hesitant to get up.

“Um, okay.” Keith’s mouth went dry and he became aware of the hands sprawled over his back. Each finger left a gentle burning warmth through Keith’s thin shirt.

Lance slowly became more aware of himself and his surroundings, and he opened his eyes. His cheeks flared up, and he slowly let go of Keith. “Ah. Sorry. I was just sleeping well.” He managed a little smile even though his face was bright red.

Keith leaned up, his bed head looking wild and mused. His whole appearance looked seductively primal. A pale shoulder peeked out from his shirt, sharp and deceptively delicate collar bones joined the slender arch of his neck. The messy locks fell around his face, tips curling to touch and highlight remarkably rosy cheeks and petal pink lips. 

“I did too.” Keith whispered. He raised his hand to Lance’s cheek but a knock at the door forced the young man to dart out of the bed. 

“What!?” Keith’s voice cracked. 

“You gonna sleep all day? A shipment came in. I could use your help!” Pidge yelled. “Freeloader!”

Keith rolled his eyes with a snarl. “I’ll be down in a minute!”

Lance blinked a little, startled by the loud knock, but he remained quiet in case Keith would be embarrassed if Pidge knew he spent the night. 

“Hurry up then!” Her voice came through the door, but the footsteps receded down the stairs.

“Sorry.” Lance murmured and slid out of the bed, stretching before smoothing his clothes, his hair was sticking up every which way, and he smiled sheepishly. “Should I sneak out the side door and come back later, or…?”

“We’re adults.” Keith replied, flustered yet filled with stubborn indignation as he went to get his clothes. “We can walk down a set of stairs together. Not like anything happened, right?” 

“True.” Lance tried to fix his hair and smooth out his clothing a bit. “I just didn’t want to cause any problems for you.” He smiled, the blush finally starting to fade.

“You won’t. But this,” Keith stepped forward and pressed chilled fingers against the bruise on Lance’s cheek. “How is it?”

Lance couldn’t keep from wincing when Keith touched the tender flesh. “It hurts when you do that.” He grinned a little. “It’s sore, and I’m sure I look awful, but it’s not that bad.”

“Nah, you look good. It builds character.” Keith grinned, lowering his hand.

“If you say so.” Lance chuckled a little, though he reached out and touched Keith’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well.” Keith’s hand twitched. “We should go. Pidge is small but rabid when she’s angry.”

“All right.” Lance waited for Keith to make the first move, and he followed him down the stairs, lifting his hand to his mouth to hide a yawn.

“It’s about time,” Pidge muttered as she lifted her head, blinking and staring at the two of them. “Lance?” Her eyes widened, but then she grinned widely. “Spent the night hm?”

Keith walked by the tiny machinist and flicked her head with his finger. “Head out of the gutter. Where’s the stuff?”

“Shiro got it.” 

Keith balked. “S-shiro did?”

“Yup. Said he heard some rumors and wanted to speak with you.” Pidge appeared disinterested in the topic, but Keith didn’t buy her apathy.

Lance glanced at Keith, then at Pidge, before moving a little closer to Keith again since he moved. He smiled a little at the small mechanic when she looked up at him again and arched a brow at his black eye, but he said nothing. “Let me help you.” He murmured to Keith as he rested his hand on the other man’s shoulder.

Keith started. “It’s all put away?”

“Because someone needed to sleep in after a long night, right?” Keith’s shoulders hunched up and in around his neck at the sound of Shiro’s voice. He didn’t sound happy.

“Shiro, look.” Keith arched his head back over Lance’s arm before he moved to face Shiro. “It’s a long story. Well, not really but…”

Black eyes focused on the dark purple mark over Lance’s eye. “Do tell.”

Lance kept his arm on Keith’s shoulder, inching a little closer to him and looking at Shiro with a rather bored expression on his face. “Is it really any of your business what we did last night?” 

Keith tensed but settled back against Lance. The slight pinking of his cheeks supporting the vengeful implication Lance tried to project.

“You cause a ruckus in town and you show up with the army kid having a black eye? Yeah. Kinda my business.” Shiro focused on Keith’s face, taking in every expression and subtle movement the younger man made.

“I took him out to eat. Jin showed up.” Keith said as if Jin’s name would be the only explanation needed.

“We didn’t cause any ruckus.” Lance’s arm moved around Keith’s shoulder, pulling him a little closer to his side, his eyes still locked on Shiro. “And neither of us did anything wrong. So no, it really isn’t your business.” 

Shiro’s expression switched from anger to concern. “You need to be careful.”

“I’m fine Shiro.” Keith’s assurance little to ease Shiro.

Lance kept his arm around Keith, supporting his friend as best he could without saying anything that might anger Shiro again. Well, he didn’t care if he angered Shiro, but he cared if Shiro continued to give Keith a hard time for no reason. 

Shiro sighed. “Was it worth it?” 

Keith grinned and nodded. 

“Was that him too?” Shiro pointed to Lance’s cheek.

“Yeah. Lance stood up for me and Jin hit him.” Keith’s eyes followed Shiro’s gesture and his brow furrowed. The bruise looked worse in the lighting of the shop.

“It looks worse than it feels.” Lance shook his head and grinned a little. “Besides, he couldn’t even knock me off my stool. He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

“No. He won’t.” Shiro’s voice left little room for argument. “You’re going to leave well enough alone. You got what you wanted. You sent him running. Leave it. Violence isn’t going to be the answer for everything.” Shiro crossed his arms. 

Keith gripped Lance’s hand. “I know.” He squeezed in warning.

Lance looked at Keith out of the corner of his eye, but he nodded a little, not in response to Shiro, but to Keith’s little warning. 

Shiro pressed his lips together and regarded the two young men. He did little to hide his discomfort. He wanted to say a lot of things right now but those words would fall on empty ears. Keith confessed to a lot the other night, and Shiro had no one to blame for the majority of it but himself. If he’d taken the boy’s feelings more seriously, or if he’d never made him dress up like his personal doll and set him on display, none of this would be happening. But he saw it. When the army brat pressed in closer, when Keith squeezed his hand. A smile glimmered under Keith’s consternation. A ghost of happiness clinging to life in a child who had every reason to give up. A smile Shiro could never give him. “Just don’t get yourself hurt. Okay?”

Keith bowed his head once in acknowledgment and gratitude before whispering to Lance, “The shop? Or do you have to go?” Their proximity made the turn of Keith’s head touch his lips to Lance’s ear. 

It was subtle, but that touch to his ear caused a shift in Lance’s positioning, and his cheeks flushed the slightest amount. He turned a little, mostly to keep Keith from accidentally touching his ear again, so any other movement would cause him to brush his cheek instead. “I promised you I would help you today, right? So I plan on keeping that promise.”

“You did. Well then, should we see what prizes came in today?” Keith’s eyes wrinkled up in excitement as he stepped away but pulled Lance with him.

Lance followed, happily letting Keith pull him back into the workroom. He couldn’t keep his eyes off his friend, the way the excitement lit up his eyes, and how his cheeks flushed slightly. And he spent the whole day like that, smiling, helping, adoring Keith. But when it grew close to dusk, he sighed a little and brushed himself off, ruffled Keith’s hair a bit as he said his goodbyes for the evening, and he headed back to base.

And when he arrived, he fielded about a thousand questions from Hunk, who was extremely concerned about the black eye, but seemed satisfied with Lance’s answers. He even seemed to be grinning when Lance talked about spending the night with Keith. Was Hunk okay with that too? Did Hunk think something was going on, or could be going on? He couldn’t shake off the feeling that his friend was more amused than anything about his predicament.

But that would have to wait. For now, he had an issue to settle, and he breathed deeply to calm himself as he stepped into Keiko’s room. He had to keep himself from acting angry. He had to be kind and polite. He just wasn’t sure he knew how to be that right now.

A rapid tapping of feet against a tatami floor and a flurry of blue silk greeted Lance the second the door slid shut behind him. The perfect image of Lance’s ideal woman had launched herself across the room, slender arms wrapped around his waist with a headdress still jiggling with indigo and light blue delphinium dancing about ebony hair.

“I’m sorry.” The soft voice muttered. 

By some miracle, Lance managed to keep his balance as Keiko launched herself at him. His arms remained at his sides, as he was unsure what to do in this moment. He wasn’t expecting her to even care enough to apologize, so he certainly wasn’t expecting this. “Um…”

“I said something horrible last time. I didn’t mean it.” Keiko continued.

“Oh. That.” Lance looked down at her. “The way Hunk described it, you definitely meant it.”

Keiko’s head shook back and forth. “I was upset. I was mean. I realized what I had done too late to take it back. Forgive me.”

“I see.” Lance gently rested his hands on her shoulders. “Why were you upset? What did I do to make you that angry?”

“I…” Keith sat back on his heels, lifting his chin up to Lance, the blue and white silk of his kimono brought the violet out his eyes ever more. “I was petty. It was unbecoming. I felt hurt that you could not show but still had Hunk give me the money as if that is all what mattered to me. So, so I said those words and I did not mean them.”

“I had him give you the money because you told me you didn’t want to be around others, and I thought if I could at least help you out, then you could have a nice night to yourself and not worry about anyone else, but then…” Lance shook his head. “You said you had someone else anyway, so…”

“That was the lie.” Keith didn’t come to this room with this intention. He wanted get Lance to break things off with Keiko. He wanted to end this confusing chapter in his life but his mind went blank when Lance entered the room. It was as if Keiko had a will of her own. She took over Keith’s actions and he fell into rhythm and role as if there had never been an ulterior motive. “There was never anyone else. Just you.”

Lance looked at her for a long moment before he sighed. “But you can’t really be with me, can you? I’m just biding your time until they decide to sell you…” He frowned at the thought, but shook his head a little. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Sell me?” Keiko’s brows furrowed and then she nodded. “That is how it goes sometimes. What do you want to do?” Her warm hand took Lance’s. 

“Protect you from that, but I can’t, can I?” Lance sank down to the floor so he was on the same level as her, looking concerned. “I…wasn’t going to come back, but my friend told me I should. I’m sorry I’m a jerk.”

“Lance I,” Keith struggled to find his words. His guilt eating him from the inside out. “You are not a jerk.” Hesitant arms came around Lance’s shoulders as he laid his head into the crook of his tan neck. Keith could never get away with something so blatant. He nuzzled the warm skin there with the gentle intent of a woman in love. “Can we just enjoy the time we have? Do we need to put a deadline on anything?”

“I…” Lance sighed. They really did need a deadline. His leave would be up in a little less than two weeks, and he would either be allowed back on active duty, or shipped somewhere else. The thought bothered him. Of course it did. But he wasn’t sure if it bothered him because he might never see Keiko again, or because he’d never see Keith again. “Can you enjoy your time with me…?”

“I always do.” Keith whispered, he wanted to sink down and lay in Lance’s lap, but then he realized he almost made a huge mistake. “Your eye, what happened to it?”

“Some jerk hit me. It’s nothing to worry about.” Lance looked at her. “You look upset. I’m fine. Really. I spent time with my friend, and I had a good night.”

Keith’s crimson painted lips curved up. “I am happy to hear that.” He sat up and got into his normal position, gently patting his lap for Lance. “Tell me about it?” 

Lance blinked, but he lowered his head to Keiko’s lap, looking up at her and smiling fondly as he told her about his night with Keith, and how he slept really well for the first time since his injury.


	6. Shiragiku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **NOTE RATING CHANGE IS NOW MATURE**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Chrysanthemum (White)** _Shiragiku 白菊_ \- Truth
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> **NEW ART**   
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)

Lance stood at the stove, looking down at the eggs he was cooking for breakfast. He hummed softly to himself as he listened to the tell-tale sounds of the shower. He had woken up and washed up about half an hour ago, but he couldn’t get the stove to work for the life of him, so he had to wake Keith up to show him how to do it. Well, he did something with the burner that Lance couldn’t see or understand, but it got the stove working, and so he was content. And now Keith was just slinking into the bathroom to get ready for the day. He had been staying here more nights than not over the nine days, and he was starting to feel like this was more like home than anything else could have felt.

He only had a few days left until his mandatory leave was over. Pidge said she just had to make a few more adjustments, but his arm brace was essentially done. If it worked, and he was put back on active duty, his time here would be cut significantly, and he wouldn’t be able to spend nights here much. But if it didn’t work, he definitely wouldn’t be able to come back here at all.

But for now, he was going to take advantage of being here. Sleeping at Keith’s was actually the best thing for him. When he slept back in the barracks, he would toss and turn, his arm feeling incredibly sore. He would wake up and barely be able to use it for the first twenty or thirty minutes of the day. However, when he slept here, it was like some sort of miracle sleep descended upon him. He didn’t toss or turn. His arm felt good. He slept the best sleeps. He figured it had to do with Keith’s mattress, or the way he usually ended up holding the smaller man as they slept. Keith’s body was rather warm, and perhaps having that heat against him all night eased his muscles. Either way, he always felt good when he slept here, and this morning was no exception.

So he made breakfast for Keith as he washed up, and he set the table so they could eat before going down to the shop to work for the day.

 

Keith leaned back against the shower wall, letting the spray needle his skin, pleading for the sensation to wake him up. The heat had less of an effect than he hoped. His flesh remained pale despite the water being set to a temperature which would make a lobster out of anyone else. 

Keith blinked, tipping his head into the air. He smelled cooking eggs and steaming rice. His frown deepened. He loved having Lance here, but Keith could only be so strong. Every morning he woke up being held by Lance’s dark tanned arms with his fingers either in his hair or sprawled over his stomach. Keith imagined, since long ago, this was how lovers woke up. Tangled together inside each other’s limbs. Waking to the same embrace sent his heart into back flips. Fires set across his stomach as Lance’s curious fingers tips found a sliver of Keith’s pale flesh, exposed by his own shifting treasonous body. 

Every morning he came into the bathroom, looked at himself in the mirror, and realized he could never be what Lance wanted. It was a pubescent nightmare, where instead of Shiro, he now faced Lance. Nothing else had changed, still definitively male with all the parts and stigma coming along with it. Including hormones and a sex drive Lance frayed down to the last pathetic wilting thread.

Keith’s exhaustion didn’t help. At night, he raced through alleyways to beat Lance to the okiya where he presented as Keiko, Lance’s true lover. Lance confided in Keiko. He’d touch her tenderly, and she eventually worked up the courage to do the same. They were caresses so innocent they seemed scandalous. A stroke of his ear, a tracing his of collar bone. A combing of his hair. As a woman, Keith didn’t have the same barriers. He was allowed to whisper sweet encouragements to him as Lance kissed Keiko’s fingers, delighting in every blush or delicate sound his maiko made. 

“Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!” Keith hit his hand against the wall and wrapped his arms about his chest, crouching all the way down to his knees. He felt sick, guilty, tired, and the most messed up level of self-jealousy he’d known possible. He had no one to blame for it but himself. The worst part, he didn’t know when he got so damn good at lying. 

He stood up, biting down on his lip, as he turned the heat a few notches higher.

Lance heard a light thud and he immediately pulled the pan off the burner, somehow managing to turn it off even though he couldn’t turn it on, and ran to the bathroom door. “Keith? Are you okay? Did you slip or something?” His eyes were wide. Was everything okay? Did he not sleep the night before? Keith seemed especially tired last night, and now there was that thud. Lance reached for the door handle, but he stopped, waiting for Keith’s answer. The other man would probably be mortified if Lance just walked into the bathroom while he was showering. 

“Y-yeah! I’m okay!” Keith yelled through the door. “Just slipped.” After a few moments he opened the door and emerged, robe around his frame and a towel set upon his head. “Coffee?” He asked hopeful.

“Yeah, though I’m still not that good at making it.” Lance stared at Keith’s face to keep himself from looking him over. “The eggs are done, too.”

“It’s fine. I’d drink tar if it had caffeine.” Keith stepped into the kitchen and with a cup from the sink, starting his day with a long swig of sugar-sweetened coffee. His shoulders relaxed, allowing him to sink into the chair. “See. It’s just fine.” He raised his mug to Lance. “Cheers.”

Lance blinked, but he slowly nodded and walked back to the table, scooping some eggs onto a plate for Keith. “Are you sure you’re okay? Should…I have stayed at the base last night? You seemed extra tired. Even now you seem off.” He couldn’t help being concerned, and he wondered if he was overstaying his welcome.

Keith studied Lance over the rim of his mug, his eyes narrowing with the curve is lips. “I’m fine. You don’t sleep well at the base any more. So why would you want to do that? I like it when you stay here. I get breakfast in the morning and Pidge has an instant set of hands to help in the shop.” Keith winked. “This place would seem a lot emptier if not for you.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m also clingy in my sleep, and that can’t be good for you.” Lance watched him as he poked at his own eggs. Even though it had only been several days of waking up with Keith in his arms, Lance felt like he wanted it to be every day. It was warm and comfortable. It made him feel things. It made his heart beat a little faster. It also confused him. 

“When is your leave over?” Keith set the coffee down and started to eat his breakfast, but his head was bowed.

“Five days.” Lance shook his head a little and sighed, watching Keith. “I don’t want to go back, but I also don’t want to be sent to some country I’ve never even heard of before.” He finished his eggs and stood to wash the dish he used. “I doubt they’d consider me for a promotion again, not that they really did before,” he grumbled, “since they believed that asshole’s lies, but maybe I can be put on light duty or something.”

“They’re stupid not to see your value.” Keith popped the yoke of his egg, his expression passive as it ran over his plate. “So you’d be unable to stay here?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how much they’ll let me get away with once I’m on duty again.” Lance washed the dish and bowed his head. “If they have me pilot the dirigible like I used to, I won’t have much free time, but since they believed that guy, they may not allow me to do that. I would quit, but they might ship me back to America if I do.”

“They don’t just let you ‘quit’ the army.” Keith ate a little more before he closed his eyes. “You’d need a discharge, for some reason or other. Right? Or it’s like treason.” Keith bent his head back over the chair, looking at Lance upside down. “I’m not worth treason, am I?” He attempted to lighten the air with the joke, but his position made his curved lips appear like a frown.

“Well yes, I know I can’t just walk out, but I did get shot. That’s a reason.” Lance looked over his shoulder at him. “If it makes me unable to do what I’m supposed to do, or if it gets worse, I could get a medical discharge. But, that probably won’t work since they threatened to ship me off if I don’t fix myself. And honestly? It’s tempting, but I’m also not stupid enough to get myself in trouble. They hate me enough as it is.” Lance managed a little smile. “But I still have five free days. And I have an idea I can run by my superiors when I do go back.”

Keith sat up again and shrugged off his failed attempt at levity and Lance’s avoidance of the joke. “I hope it works out. However they decide to spin it.” He took his plate to the sink and rid it of the contents. 

He made his way over to the dresser, taking out his clothes for the day and stepping toward the bathroom. “I’ll be done in a minute. If you wanna head to the shop you don’t have to wait for me.”

Lance was still standing at the sink when Keith dumped his plate, and he looked down at the uneaten food. He frowned slightly and cleaned that plate too, bowing his head a bit. “I’ll clean this up.” His voice was a little quiet. Were the eggs bad? Was Keith upset with him? Maybe he shouldn’t have been vague with his responses. 

“No. It was good. I’m just not that hungry today.” Keith explained. “They took more blood yesterday too. Not the full amount but two days in the same week.” Keith shrugged with his usual level of apathy.

“What?” Lance stopped washing the dishes, turned off the sink, and dried his hands. He walked over to Keith and rested a hand on his forehead, frowning slightly. “Then you need more to eat, not less.”

“Sorry. I’ll do better for lunch.” Keith, forgetting himself leaned into Lance’s touch. A better man may have felt shame in purposely worrying a friend to garner attention. Keith was not a better man. Lance had cool hands. A splash of ice water on a hot summer day. “I promise. But for now I should get clothes on.”

“Okay. As long as you promise.” Lance slowly pulled his hand back and smiled at him. “We can go get something together if you’d like.” He stepped back so Keith could go get dressed.

Keith leaned after Lance’s hand and stumbled to right himself. He was more tired than he though. “Thanks. Yeah.” 

Out of the bathroom, his hands fussed behind his head as he tied up his hair and pulled the pony half way through leaving a stylish messy loop in the back. He was going to be messing around in the engine today and he didn’t want to run the risk of getting anything caught up inside. 

Sitting on the floor, Keith started to put his boots on to head down to the shop. “You ready?” He lasked knotting the last lace.

“Yeah. I was just waiting for you.” Lance had cleaned the rest of dishes, the pans, the stove, just about anything he could while he nervously waited for Keith to get out of the bathroom. The smaller man seemed better now, but the more Lance looked at him, the paler he seemed. 

“Oh don’t look at me like that.” Keith hopped up to his feet. “It’s just the same old stuff. I’m still your suave street fighter.” He opened the door and made room for Lance to get out. “Just a few ounces of blood short.” 

Lance nodded a little, knowing there was no use in trying to argue with Keith about this, since Keith was stubborn and would just deny if he was feeling faint anyway. “All right.” He walked past him to go down the stairs first. At least if Keith stumbled, Lance’s body would shield his fall.

Keith rolled his eyes, not oblivious to what Lance was doing, but he didn’t have the will to fight it. He hopped off the bottom step and waved to Pidge who finished the final touches on Lance’s arm. She had done wonders with it. No longer looking like the dried up caprice of a many legged insect, the casing was a smooth weather and rust resistant bronze with Roman style etchings and leather thatch work. She even included a watch around the wrist to add more functionality and to show off. 

“It’s looking really good, Pidge.” Keith leaned over the counter with a whistle. 

“Of course it is.” The pint sized engineer beamed at Keith’s rare praise. 

Lance moved behind Keith and looked over his shoulder at his brace. He smiled. “You’re amazing, Pidge. Thank you.” He grinned at her, causing her to smile even more. He rested his hand against Keith’s, but then he took a few steps back and looked around the shop as though trying to commit everything to memory. Five days, huh? He shook his head to clear it of the negative thoughts he was about to have, and he smiled at Keith. “Should we go to work, then?”

Keith’s hand had twitched when Lance touched it, it wanted to turn up and fold into his, but it would have been too much. With only five days left, they were better off like this. Close. Some would say closer than two men should be, but not exactly over the line. Just close.

“Yeah.” Keith edged his head toward the shop door. “Pidge if you need us, we’ll be in here.”

“I won’t need you.” Pidge grinned, the light glaring off her glasses making the simple statement sinister. 

“O-okay.” Keith quirked a brow and stepped into the workshop, taking in the smell of oil and patina. The bike sat upon the altar, almost finished. The rust had been sanded off, and the red and silver paint finished drying only hours ago. The brakes were repaired. A few tests and she’d be sky high. 

“Today it’s gonna be mostly back work. We’ll have to get it hoisted up in the chains and slip the bench from under it. Think I can afford to use a bit of your elbow grease.” Keith shifted a pair of goggles onto his head.

Lance nodded as he stepped into the room. He looked at the bike for a moment, smiling at how much progress had been made since he started coming here. Even if he didn’t help much, he felt a sense of pride in helping Keith make something he could be proud of. And as he looked up to say so, he lost the words as soon as he saw Keith. At the way his goggles pulled back his hair. At how familiar his face was in that moment. Not familiar because he had seen him every day, but something else. Something he didn’t really know how to express.

“Okay…” He managed, though he continued to stare at his friend. “Hey, Keith? What do you do at night when I leave? Aside from treatments, I mean.” 

“D-do?” Keith’s slender shoulders tensed as they tended to do when caught off guard. “Do? Well I umm train. Practice katas. Shiro gets pissed if I don’t.” Keith swallowed, he couldn’t remember the last time he completed a full kata. “Clean up around the shop. Or read.” 

“Oh.” Lance nodded as though Keith’s response was good enough, but he did see the smaller man tense up a little. Or at least it appeared as though he did. “Sorry. I was just curious. I know I have plans tonight, but maybe tomorrow night we can do something together?”

Keith sighed. “Sure. Did you have something in mind?” He laid out a clean tarp, getting down on his hands and knees to smooth out the edges.

“A date.” Lance watched Keith carefully, doing his best to keep his eyes from wandering down to that perfectly curved bottom of his. “We never really got a chance to go back out to dinner after we went to get ramen.”

“A date?” Keith froze, his arm in mid crawl until Lance continued talking. “Oh! Hang out. My English gets a little messed up sometimes. Sorry.” Keith turned and looked up at Lance as he laid back on the cloth before he buried his hands into the brake system. “Yeah we can do that. I don’t have anything planned.”

Lance didn’t have it in him to tell Keith he meant an actual date. Keith still had feelings for Shiro, after all, and it would be a jerk move of Lance to try to squeeze in there. So he just smiled and watched Keith work. “Good. We should go somewhere nice.” At least he could make it as date-like as possible, and then he could finally sort these feelings out, right?

“Ever have okonomiyaki?” Keith grinned and looked about the ground “Where’s that damn hose?”

“No. Is it good?” Lance walked to a shelf and grabbed the spare hose Keith seemed to be looking for, but he remained standing, holding it up. “This hose?”

“Yes. That one! Thank you!” Keith sat up and held his hand out to him. “Give.”

“Nah.” Lance smirked and held his arm up, so Keith would have to stand and reach for it. “You didn’t ask nicely.” 

Keith arched a brow. “Seriously? What are you, five?” He stood up and jumped for a grab.

“Is it bad to want to be asked nicely for things?” Lance grinned at him and held the hose just out of his reach. “Would it kill you to say please?”

“With you acting like this?” Keith smirk with a haughty toss of his head. “It just might.” He jumped for it again, gripping Lance’s shoulder to pull him down while he shot up.

“You started it.” Lance laughed, but when Keith gripped his shoulder, he pulled Lance just the right way to knock him off his balance. He could feel himself falling, so he shot his other arm around Keith to pull him down with him, still laughing a bit even as his back hit the floor and knocked the air out of his lungs. “Are you okay?” He managed between breaths, looking up at his friend, though his laughter stopped when he realized how close their faces actually were.

Keith squawked when they fell but started laughing as they hit the ground his forehead against Lance’s chest, the commotion slipping the goggles around his neck then loosening his hair. 

“Okay, okay.” Keith chuckled, turning his head up. “May I please have it, Lancesama?” Keith stared into other’s dark face and he caught the crackle in the air. All the oxygen in the room had been sucked out and replaced by something thicker. Sweeter. Heavier.

Aware of the hands at his hips Keith shifted them, straddling Lance’s legs. Pressed in close and tight, their bodies came together every time one or the other breathed. He fixed his eyes on Lance’s. The smile fading when he felt something hungry pass through Lance. A shudder or a repressed moan, whatever it was craved freedom and spread to Keith by means of the flushed contact. Keith’s lips tingled as Lance’s breath passed over them.

Heat surged in Lance’s cheeks, causing them to darken as he looked up at Keith. They had landed in such a way that he could feel the subtle press of Keith’s thighs against his own. His eyes locked on those amethyst jewels as he lifted a hand to push a stray strand of ebony away from his face, tucking it back behind his ear. 

Unsure bashful eyes followed the path of Lance’s hand before half closing in the subdued pleasure of his fingers. “Nn.” The sigh escaped him as he gave in to sensation of such a feather light touch. He licked his lips, taking a brief taste of Lance’s breath. “Lance,” A breeze of his name came with another shallow exhale.

“Keith…” Lance barely whispered his name, his eyes still locked on the purple gems as he slid his finger over the shell of his ear and allowed it to drop to his jaw, then his neck. 

“Nng.” Keith mewled out a moan, his lips quivering as his body sunk deeper against Lance’s.

Lance’s fingers moved, sliding around to the back of Keith’s neck and threading into the hair there. He leaned himself up just a bit. “Keith…”

“Lan-“ 

_SLAM_

Keith started at the noise, tossing his head to the door jumping to his feet in one fluid motion when he heard Pidge yell from the shop.

“Pidge!” Keith dashed for the door, swinging it open to see the small sandy haired shop keep on the floor, a stool under her with a broken and splintered leg.

“I’m okay!” She whined in her nasally voice. “I leaned too far back.” She picked up the leg, and waved in the air. “This doesn’t happen with metal.”

“You scared me half to death!” Keith knelt at her side helping her up. 

“Geeze I’m fine. Don’t need to get that worked up. Your face is all red.” 

Lance listened to their conversation from the other room. He remained on the floor, his eyes wide, his face a new shade of red as his heart threatened to beat itself right out of his chest. He almost kissed Keith. He would have kissed him if Pidge’s fall hadn’t caused him to bolt. And his body was definitely reacting to the fact that they were so close. 

Had Pidge not fallen, he would have kept kissing him. More and more. Hands roaming, hips grinding. More. 

Lance groaned and pushed himself up off the floor, slapping his own cheeks in an attempt to calm himself down. The blush on his cheeks was bad enough, but the heat in his pants needed to settle, too. He took a few deep breaths and walked out into the shop, looking at them both before he moved to pick up the broken stool. Anything to distract him from the fact that he wanted to pull Keith into his arms and kiss him.

Without seeing him Keith was acutely aware of Lance’s presence. He knew his foot fall, knew the hitch of his breath. His body could still feel his heat under him. Pidge prattled on about something or other and Keith’s eyes drifted up to Lance, a message passing between them. Neither one could lie to himself about what happened in the shop. He couldn’t and wouldn’t shove it back into the preverbal closet and wait for it all to tumble out again as the weight of his secrets busted the lock. 

“-that’s why the structural integrity gave way.” Pidge finished. “Keith?”

“Huh?” Keith blinked at her. “Yeah. Well you obviously didn’t hit your head. You still got enough stuff cluttering around in there.” He tapped her forehead.

Lance grabbed another stool for Pidge and set it down. He caught Keith’s look. He knew what needed to happen because of that look. But he also knew that if he was alone with Keith again, he would shove him against a wall and kiss the hell out of him. 

The doorbell jingled, and Lance turned his head towards it, so he would stop staring at Keith’s lips.

Shiro walked towards them, a cloth-wrapped parcel in his arms. “Hey.” He looked at them, arching a brow when he noticed the tension radiating from Lance and Keith. “Is…everything okay?”

“I fell. I’m fine.” Pidge waved her hands as if shooing all three of them away. “Go back in the other room and stop bothering me already.”

“Yeah. We’re all fine.” Keith stood up, not paying mind to the fact that his hair was mussed and loose and his goggles were crooked against his neck. 

“Riiight.” Shiro clicked his tongue and arched a very pointed eyebrow at Lance. “I heard you were in the lab again yesterday. I wanted to stop in and see how you were feeling.” He walked up to Keith and took his chin, turning his head to either side. “You’re a bit flushed. Fever?”

Keith slapped his hands away in a flurry of exaggerated motions. “I’m fine! Damnit, don’t you people have lives?” He snorted. 

“All right all right. I’m just delivering some equipment in exchange for Sam sharpening a few needles for me. He here?” 

Pidge stiffened a little, and her mood soured just slightly. “No. Not since yesterday. I got the needles done for you though. They’re on the back counter.” Shiro looked over at her and a growing darkness clouded his eyes. 

“I see, thank you. Tell him I stopped by. I’ll make sure I catch him next time.” Shiro said with an eerie chill in his voice catching everyone off guard but Pidge.

“Good luck on that.” Pidge replied not subtle with her glibness. 

Lance remained quiet and avoided Shiro’s gaze as much as possible. It was a short encounter, but it was enough to dump ice on any intentions Lance had towards Keith. Keith loved Shiro, he had said as much. Of course he did. So anything he could have done would only put their friendship in jeopardy, since Keith didn’t like him that same way. 

And it disappointed him. 

But he kept his head turned to the side, and he watched Shiro out of the corner of his eye, only relaxing once the man put the parcel down on the counter and left the shop.

The rest of the day flowed in the same manner. As if nothing had happened, but whenever Keith tried to get a second alone with Lance, interruptions occurred with abnormal frequency, or Lance would straight out avoid the situation. He barely left Pidge’s side for most of the time, and before he knew it Lance had packed up to head back to the base. He needed to get ready for his date tonight with Keiko. 

Keiko. Keith thought. He still had her. No matter what Lance thought about Keith, whatever this morning meant to him Keith could fall back on the pretty little maiko. He’d grown dependent and spiteful of the persona. He hated the freedom he had while dressed as her but despised Lance’s outward affection at the same time. It wasn’t fair. He hated lying but he feared what coming clean would do. In Keith’s life he found that he could take on a lot other people’s disdain and disgust and never bat an eye, but if he saw those looks pass through Lance. It would destroy him. He knew it from the bottom of his aching heart.

Now Keith sat in the ready room. His young assistant helping him dress, pulling on the corset style obi given to him by Shiro to provide fake feminine curves. Keith hadn’t been keen on Shiro’s reasons for helping him, but he’d take all the advantages he could. Lance being in the army meant he knew things. Shiro being part of a main resistance movement meant he needed to know things. Keith now sat in the middle of spy circle he had no intention of being a part of but would abuse to make his life easier. 

“I like this. Is it new? I haven’t seen this here.” The girl asked as she adjusted the collar of the kimono. Dark blue silk faded in into aqua and white with silver etched flowers down the sleeves and into the hem.

“I bought it.” Keith said. 

“For him?” She asked as she fixed a small smudge of lip stick at the corner of Keith’s mouth.

“He likes blue. It’s his favorite color.”

“I don’t think he’ll care what you wear. As long as it’s you wearing it.” Her words were wise beyond what any twelve year old’s words should be. “But here.” She pushed an ornament into Keith’s hair, and as he looked up at the mirror, he smiled. It was simple. Nothing like the overly ornate combs and sticks of the past. The pin only had two vines hanging down set with sapphire flowers and silver leaf loops catching the light the length dusted his bare shoulders. Metallic dust applied to his hair shimmered in its own electric light producing tiny hair thin bolts of lightning to streak over his crown. 

“Coran outdid himself this time.”

“He thought tonight was special, so he wanted to make sure you looked the part.” 

“Tell him thank you.” Keith bowed his head as he stood up and made way to their usual suite his heart echoing his footfalls.

\-----

Hunk’s eyes crossed as he watched Lance pace back and forth. “What is with you today, man? Why are you in such a mood?” The only reply he received from his friend was a snort, so he knew to drop it. Instead, he watched the other man have a silent imaginary conversation with himself, with the pacing and the headshaking and the nodding. Something must have happened at the shop, but if Lance didn’t want to tell him, what was he supposed to do?

Lance stopped pacing after a few more minutes. He had an epiphany. It was something that could easily change everything for the better. He turned to Hunk and grinned widely. “I’m fine. I’m really, really fine. Probably the most fine I’ve been in a while.”

“Oh? Had to work something out then?” The larger man couldn’t help but smile. Lance’s grin was contagious. 

“Yup. Still do. Don’t wait up for me.” Lance pulled on his jacket. “I don’t know if I’ll be home tonight.”

“And that’s different from the last few nights, how?” Hunk chuckled. “You better tell me everything once it’s all worked out.” He watched as the other man nodded and practically ran out of the room, and he felt a sense of relief. “I really hope it works out.” He murmured as the door shut behind Lance.

As Lance walked towards his destination, his hands shoved in his jacket pockets, he kept grinning to himself. This would be a good night. He would see Keiko. He would ask her advice about something very important, and he would see where it went from there. Hopefully it went where he wanted it to go. The incident at the shop had only solidified his decision to confess his feelings to the maiko. He needed to tell her how much he loved her. He needed to make that decision once and for all. He made his choice, and now he planned on acting on it. He just hoped she reciprocated. If she didn’t, he really would be hopelessly lost, and he’d throw himself into whatever his new duties would be with abandon. If she couldn’t return his feelings, what would he have left to feel? 

When he arrived, he exchanged a few pleasant words with Coran, who seemed to be a little more eager to speak with him than usual. Aside from that little oddity, everything was going off without a hitch. Keiko’s assistant was there to meet him, and calmly led him to the room.

“Enjoy your night.” She said as she slid open the door.

Lance stepped into the room as he usually did, his eyes locking on the vision in front of him. Lovely, as always, but she seemed to be the living embodiment of a sapphire tonight, and he felt his heart jump in his chest. Did he ever tell her that blue was his favorite color? Was this intentional? Either way, she was exquisite, and it made his cheeks flush.

“Thank you for joining me this evening.” Keith bowed forward as he always did before he straightened his back, sultry smirk quirking those ruby lips. “You seem in high spirits. Something good happen today?”

Lance sat down cross-legged in front of her, his hands resting on his knees. “More like I’m hoping something good will happen tonight. You look amazing.”

“Oh? Before or after I pour the sake?” Keith’s eyes shimmered with contained mirth. “Thank you. You have been so generous I had the kimono made for you. I am thankful it does not have to go to waste.”

“Before.” Lance leaned forward a bit, but he kept the appropriate distance for now. “You had it made for me? Why?” So it was on purpose. He felt his heart skip a few beats at the thought. Maybe this would go the way he hoped. 

“To please you.” Keith said, his voice getting softer to accommodate for Lance’s closeness. His blood drummed in his ears as memories from the morning heated his skin and made Keiko shyer than normal as she bowed her head, the silver vines chiming. “I like making you smile.”

“Do you?” Lance watched Keiko for a moment. “Even though…I won’t be able to come back here after my leave is over?”

Gemstone eyes flickered back to Lance, large and a little dewy before they lowered again. Keith couldn’t cry in front of Lance, but Keiko had a gender provided free pass. A thin line of crystalize tears lined the bottom rim of his coal painted eyes, threatening to fall. “I know. Which is why spending this time with you so important.”

Normally, Lance would have tried to discourage those tears, but seeing Keiko almost cry for him made him feel a little warm and giddy. “Why?”

“Why?” Keith’s breath stuttered. Did Lance really have to ask why? “I have said several times how lonely I am without you. I will miss you. I enjoy our time together. I like the stories you tell me. I enjoy hearing about the adventures you and Hunk have had.” Keith’s shoulders slumped. Why was honesty only found within the silken folds of a lie? “I will miss your laugh. The way you smile. How you awkwardly ask questions.” Keith sniffed, his fingers clutching inside the sleeve. 

“I like you.” With the gentle admission, two tears rolled down Keith’s painted cheeks. At least Keiko would get her goodbye.

Lance rested his hand over the one that clutched his hand. “Well yes, you like me. But you really won’t be lonely without me, will you?” He watched her face and managed a little smile. “Besides, it’s not like you love me. You’ll be fine.”

“Why do you say such cruel things?” Keith’s voice wavered unable to hide the sting of Lance’s words. “Have I upset you?” 

“No. No you haven’t, but it’s true isn’t it?” Lance gently patted her hand. “You don’t love me. You shouldn’t waste your energy on me.” This was about to be it. He needed to gauge the extent of Keiko’s feelings before he went for his confession. Maybe he should have just said it, but he wanted to protect himself a bit. He wanted to be absolutely certain. 

Keith lifted his head, eyes searching Lance’s. “Waste?” The word came out more bitter than Keith had meant for it and he took his hand away from Lance’s cold platitudinal pats. 

“Isn’t it? You’re wasting your time here with me, when you told me you love Shiro. When you should be training and practicing your katas.” Lance sat back and watched Keith’s face, one brow arching. There it was. Now to see what happened. 

“Shiro?” The visage of the poised maiko melted away, and large innocent eyes narrowed darkly as Keiko took on an expression unique to only one other person. With a scoffing scowl and dried up tears Keith swiped his hand in the air.

“For fuck’s sake are you an idiot? I don’t love Shiro!” Keith’s brows furrowed in anger. “You’re the idiot I l-” He stopped, eyes wide. Color drained from his painted face, turning it paper pale. His hand covered his mouth, fingers trembling. “L-lan-lance.” His voice shook, his eyes wet with remerging tears as Keith slumped back and away. He expected an angry physical reaction from the other man and wanted out of arm’s reach.

Lance shook his head and watched Keith recoil from him. He sighed and scooted himself a little closer, reaching out to touch one of Keith’s hands. “You’ve been through a lot because I’m an idiot, hm? Having to pretend because I didn’t know better.” It took him a while to figure out, but at least now Keith knew he did.

“Wh-- what?” Keith’s brows furrowed. “I-I what? But I was the one lying to you. This whole time. When did you know?”

“This morning, when your goggles pulled your hair back.” Lance shook his head a little. “I put you in a tough spot, and I’m really sorry. It’s my fault you couldn’t do things you wanted to do…”

“Things I wanted to do?” Keith cocked his head to the side, his hair piece pooling on his shoulder. The realization of Lance knowing the truth and the reality of Keith being dressed up like Keiko settled down around the man like a self-conscious weight. Nervous trembling hands closed the kimono around his shoulders.

“Well anything had to be better than this, right?” Lance pulled his hand back when Keith shifted, and he looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you mad?” Keith whispered. His voice lost its strength. “I got caught up in all of this. And then I was in too deep. I wanted to tell you the truth so many times! But I-I was afraid.” Keith used a hand to shield his eyes. “You’d reject me. You’d be disgusted by me.” 

Keith squeezed his collar tighter and kept going. “Then I’d lose you at the shop too. I didn’t want that.” He sniffed, and the levy broke on his tears. “Don’t you get it! I’d rather keep up this stupid lie than risk not seeing you at all! And all you ever say is Shiro Shiro Shiro! My crush on Shiro was just some childhood fantasy. You’re my reality! You are what I want! I went this far for few more stupid hours!” 

‘You never saw it though. The way your eyes lit when you saw Keiko, after walking in here. How badly I wanted it to be me you were seeing not this!” Keith motioned his hand down over the length of his doll like wardrobe. 

Lance moved then, grabbing Keith’s hand and pulling it away from his eyes so he could see his tears. He was an idiot. He never wanted to hurt Keith, but he also didn’t think Keith liked him enough to be hurt by this. And yet here he was, crying for him, because of him. Because Lance had believed him at his word when he said he loved Shiro. But he was supposed to believe Keith, right? So why was Keith so upset that he did? And Keith’s tears just kept coming, so Lance did the only thing he could think of doing. He pulled Keith to him and kissed him. 

“LA-Mph!” Keith’s muffled protest melted into a series of pleased murmurers. This is what he wanted. This is what he’d been craving. Thin pink lips, warm and softer than any man had a right to be. They tasted of salt and a remnant of something sweet. He squeezed Lance’s hand as a whimper escaped amid their crush. The heat from this morning flooding him, unabated as he tilted his head to welcome more of him.

Lance kept kissing him, each one getting hotter and more desperate for the man in front of him. When he finally broke the kisses to breathe, he panted a little and looked at Keith, managing a little smile. “You idiot. You were so preoccupied by these nights that you never saw how I looked at you during the day.” He kept holding Keith’s hand, squeezing it gently, but his other lifted to push a loose strand of his hair back behind his ear, his fingertips brushing against the shell of it. 

“Nnm.” Keith sighed, his ear growing hot where Lance touched him. “How did you see me?” He leaned up again, eager to get his lips back against Lance’s. Air was overrated and unnecessary if it kept him from what he really needed.

“Like this.” Lance kissed him again, pulling him closer so he could make each kiss better than the one before it. He let go of Keith’s hand to rest his own on the small curve of Keith’s back, the one by his ear lifting to pull that ornament out of his hair, so he could feel the strands fall down around them. He gently twisted his finger into those threads, a grin spreading over his lips as he kissed him again and again.

Thick black waves cascaded down in a water of curls. Light dust sparked, filling the air with motes of white light in the shadow of Keith’s ebony curtain. They lit his face when he pulled away, the strands curled up against the pale column of his neck. Keith laughed with boyish giddiness. “You have lipstick all over your mouth.” He ran his thumb under Lance’s lower lip while he nibbled his own.

“Well, that can’t be helped if you’re wearing it.” Lance gasped at the touch to his lip, his tongue coming out to taste the digit before he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and started to wipe his own face. “Though we should get that makeup off you hm? You look better when you’re yourself.”

“There’s-“ Keith’s mind froze at the touch of Lance’s tongue. “The water.” He leaned in again with more aggression than before, pushing his tongue into Lance’s mouth. It twisted and swirled over his teeth his lips, then along the rough bumpy tongue which stirred him on. Keith shivered as the taste of Lance filled him, it was stronger and more potent than anything a simple kiss could supply him. 

Lance moaned a little at that last kiss, pulling Keith closer for a moment before he pulled his head back slightly to grin at him. “Then.” Lance kissed Keith, a long, lingering kiss. “We should use it.” Another kiss, this time he threaded his fingers into the hair at the back of Keith’s neck and moaned into his mouth. “And clean both of us up.”

The gentle pull at the back of his neck forced Keith’s head back, exposing more of his painted neck and shoulders. His hands had long since let go of the kimono’s collar and the cloth retained its natural formation, splitting and lowering off the slender masculine curve of his shoulders and upper chest. From this vantage point, there could be no doubting the sex of the body in front of Lance.

Lance’s eyes traveled down the expanse of Keith’s neck, his eyes darkening before he shook his head to clear himself of his thoughts. While he wanted to throw Keith down and lick and kiss that neck and those collarbones, he needed to clean them both first. He dipped the cloth in water and quickly got the last of the lipstick off his face before he dipped the cloth again and took Keith’s chin in his hand, gently cleaning the tear-streaked makeup from his face. The sooner he got this off him, the sooner they could start kissing again. “You know,” he started, looking into Keith’s eyes as he cleaned him, “I’m pretty relieved.”

A tiny gasp squeaked out from Keith’s lips at the touch of the cold cloth, but he relished the gentle touch of his hand against his face and the one still kneading his hair. Captured between the two forces he helplessly moved how Lance bid him. Each brush erasing the doll like white flesh of Keiko and replacing it with pink and ivory warmth. “Oh? Why?”

“I honestly didn’t believe you could love me, so I’ve been holding myself back.” Lance smiled as he wiped the last of the makeup from his face, and he leaned in to kiss him before he tilted his head to get the coating on his neck. “I really did believe your crush on Shiro was still a thing, and I was afraid if I told you I was attracted to you, you would reject me and our friendship would be over.” He smiled faintly. 

“We’re both stupid.” Keith turned his head to Lance’s hand, “Nn…” He unconsciously groaned as water dripped in slow rivets down his neck and disappeared below the kimono.

“Yeah, we are.” Lance shifted a little, and his eyes started to darken at the sound of Keith’s groan but he held himself in check long enough to clean Keith’s neck. He glanced at the pale flesh, and at the line that indicated he still had more to be cleaned. “How far down does it go?” He whispered the question, licking his own lips. 

Wordlessly, Keith twisted around, mourning the loss of Lance’s hands, and he rolled his shoulders to drop the kimono down. The stiff collar swooped low to hint at the narrows of his back. Muscles shifted and moved under painted and powdered skin. They stood as the hard-earned evidence of lithe fighting prowess Keith displayed for Lance weeks before. “If you want to get it all.” Keith touched his chin to shoulder as he eyed Lance, looking more the playful courtesan than innocent maiko.

“I want to see all of you.” Lance moaned as he started cleaning the shoulder Keith wasn’t looking over, though he leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth. “I want all of you.”

In reply Keith’s shoulders shifted, spreading the kimono wider. Following the sound of rustling silk and pulling thread, the obi corset went slack and with it the unsupported weight of the fabric and all the layers slipped down exposing the tantalizing dip of Keith’s lower back.

“What is this?” Lance held the cloth to the back of Keith’s shoulder, but his other hand dropped and traced a patch of red that was exposed now that Keith had dropped the kimono enough. He followed along a subtle curve and along the twist of blue, green, yellow, and black until his finger stopped at what appeared to be the head of a lion. He continued to clean the rest of the makeup off his shoulders and back, but his eyes locked on the animal figure. “A tattoo?”

“Ah!” Keith gasped, his hand covering his mouth as his eyes widened. The tingling shock running through him at Lance’s touch sent its reverberations throughout his body. “Y-yes.” He managed. The marking had been there his whole life and such a part of Keith the man often forgot it existed. Until he met Lance. It burned or itched or prickled at random intervals, and now Lance’s unwitting touches made Keith’s body tremble and shiver with spikes of neoteric pleasure.

Lance was about to touch one of the multicolored ribbon-like lines again, but Keith’s reaction made him hesitate. Why was he trembling? “Does it hurt when I touch it?” He set the cloth down now that he had finished cleaning off the makeup, but his eyes remained locked on that lion. “It looks new. When did you get it?”

Having a second to breathe, Keith shook his head. “No. It doesn’t hurt. I’m just not used to being touched.” He answered, honestly unaware of how innocent and heartbreaking the confession was. “I’ve had it since I can remember.”

“Oh?” Lance put the cloth down. He looked over the lines on Keith’s back, smiling a bit. “Really? But it looks new. How is that possible? It’s not faded at all.” His hands moved to rest on the edge of the kimono and he gently tugged it down a bit, exposing more of the design. The red almost seemed to shine and shift with different shades of the color, and as he exposed more of Keith’s back, the rest of the lion came into view. “Amazing…”

Keith ears flared up due to his sudden exposure. “I-in Japan tattoos aren’t accepted in public. So I hide it. Here.” He reached his arm back and scratched all of his hair up into his hand, combing it over his left shoulder to give Lance an unobstructed view. He kept his head to the side as he stared out at the oil lamp, the flame reflecting in his eyes as the tattoo seemed to shift and move in the playing shadows. Ancient woodblock artistry with Celtic curls and heavy Samoan lines made the outline of a young maneless lion. The tail swirled up to his right shoulder while the front paws of the beast appeared press into the small of his back just over the bottom curve. 

Lance reached out and touched the tattoo gently, his fingers once again following the detailed lines. “But…it’s not really a tattoo is it? It’s not faded or stretched or anything from your growing…” He blinked as the colors seemed to move, almost like the flame flickering in the lamp. And where he touched, the color seemed to react to the pressure, rippling like the surface of a calm lake when disturbed. “It looks alive.” The colored ribbons almost seemed to dance around the lion, though there was no way it could actually be moving.

“I don’t know.” Keith gasped, then let out the tiniest of groans at Lance’s continued ministrations. 

Lance looked up at Keith’s face when he heard that groan, and he grinned a bit. “Does it feel good when I touch it?”

Keith nodded his head. He didn’t see a reason to try and hide it. “It does.” 

“Then I should touch it again right?” Lance slid a finger along the curves of the lion. 

“Ah!” Keith arched his back to Lance his arms shooting back to brace himself against Lance’s thighs as the kimono fell to his hips, leaving little else to Lance’s imagination.

“That looks like it felt more than just good.” Lance smirked and touched the mark again, gently sliding a finger along the edges, tracing the design on his back. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this?” He continued to smirk, even as he looked down to see Keith’s newly exposed flesh.

“Ngg.” Keith panted, his fingers gripping and clawing at the rough fabric of Lance’s uniform slacks. “You don’t sound that broken up about it…” He managed to snipe out before another mewl stole the words from him.

“If you’re aroused, I’m definitely not broken up about it.” Lance leaned over him and nuzzled his hair a little before he whispered into the back of his ear. “Then again, you bought that kimono for me, and it would be a shame to stain it.”

The press of Lance against his back made Keith squirm, and his legs spread so he could slip over Lance’s lap, his hands switching to hold his arms. He felt the Cuban’s heat sprawl over him as he leaned in. His moist sweet breath against the back of his ear. “Do you want to take the rest of it off?” 

“Do I want to take it off, or do I want to see you take it off?” Lance’s hand moved from Keith’s back and he slid them around to the front of his kimono. 

“You want to see that?” Keith lifted his head, showing Lance lust darkened jeweled eyes. “Okay.” He let go of his arms and slipped the last few stings of the corset open. Lifting his hips up he slid the stiff garment from between their bodies and let it fall to the floor with a creaking rock to the tatami. “This will be the hard part.” 

Keith stood up and let his arms slip free from the layers of silk, save but one. The final thin layer of shear gossamer, it shadowed his body in the candle glow, painting the white fabric in flesh tones wherever it pressed against Keith’s skin. 

Lance looked at him, eyes dark, cheeks a little flushed, and he reached up to touch his hand. “What about this last one? Are you going to keep teasing me?” His fingers moved from Keith’s hand to touch the thin fabric. 

“I wanted to save something for you.” Keith grinned over his shoulder at Lance as he turned around handing one last string over to the man to take. It was the last knot holding the cloth around Keith’s hips. The bravado did two things. Reminded Lance the delicate flower Keiko had been made out to be had been pure fiction and to hide how terrified Keith was to show him. “When you’re ready.” He pushed the string toward Lance one more time as he stared down at him.

Lance took hold of the string and looked up at him. He could see the flush spread over Keith’s cheeks and down his neck, and it only made him grin a bit. This was it, wasn’t it? “I’m ready.” He tugged that string slowly, watching the fabric fall from its precarious position on Keith’s hips. And with the soft rustle of fabric, Keith was fully exposed to Lance. He smiled up at him. He wanted to reassure him that he was the one Lance wanted. “You’re amazing.”

“Are you still in love with all of me?” Keith let his fingers drop and trace along the edge of Lance’s jaw to hold his chin up to him. His touch was resolute even as his fingers trembled. Keith didn’t know how the next few minutes would go but depending on Lance’s answer, he may never recover from this level of vulnerability.

Lance looked at him, and he lifted a hand to rest on the one that held his chin, as though that could calm the trembling. “Maybe even more so, now that you’re not hiding from me.”

“I won’t hide from you.” Keith touched his fingertips to Lance’s lips, his eyes darkening. “Let me be everything you want.”

“You already are,” Lance whispered, kissing Keith’s fingers and smiling up at him. “Everything and more.”

“Show me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Culture Notes**  
>  Tattoos: While the influance of Westernized culture has relaxed this a bit (just a bit) Tattoos are considered taboo in Japanese society. I won't get into all the details but the reasons range from associations with the mafia to disrespecting ancestors. There are a fair number of Japanese who have tattoos but they are under the clothing and not visible to the public. However, in some cases tattooed guests can be and have been banned from hotsprings (onsen). This doesn't happen everywhere and the Japanese government is trying to get onsen owners to relax this code particularly for tourists. 
> 
> It is my personal belief that it depends on the tattoo and where it is located on the body. I have several tattoo's (wrist, ankle, shoulder, foot) and have never been pulled out or banned from an onsen because of this. These tattoos are small or can be considered dainty (4 inches in length). If I ever feel unsure I have the ability to cover them with a waterpoof bandage. The tattoos which can cause issues are the larger ones. Full sleeve, full leg, massive ones on the thigh of spread across the back. Keith's tattoo would certainly be a problem.
> 
> If you have a tattoo and want to experience a Japanese onsen don't fret. If you're concern you can speak with your travel agent or ask the onsen directly on what their rules are for tattoos.


	7. Himawari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **MATURE - Chapter is fluffy smut, if this is not something you wish to read please see the following chapter when it is posted. We will provide a summary of important plot points**
> 
>  
> 
>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Sunflower** _Himawari 向日葵_ \- Respect, passionate love, radiance
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)

Keith held his fingers to his lips, his other hand still clutching the sleeve of the robe for lack of knowing what else he could do. Lance didn’t skip a beat once Keith had given him his full permission. He pulled the smaller man forward by his hips and started to leave open mouth kisses along his flesh. Lance’s breath was hot, and his tongue left wet trails down every line of muscle he could reach while his teeth scraped and nipped the sensitive skin. Keith’s unblemished ivory skin did little to hide Lance’s tiny claims on his body. A red line here, a hickey there, and dimpled pressed flesh where dark fingers gripped and held him in place. 

Shameful sounds started to tumble out of Keith’s lips. They fought past his fingers and wrapped their sweet encouragements around Lance’s brain. Every sensation, every touch, every bolt of pleasure which rocked Keith’s frame was a new experience and somewhere in the back of his head he knew he wasn’t prepared, but he didn’t care. He wanted Lance’s touch. He’d been craving the man since the first day in the shop and he made his blood boil with anger and desire. The intoxicating concoction heralded addiction. 

“More…” 

“I will give you as much as you can handle.” Lance leaned in and kissed Keith’s lower abdomen again, his hands sliding over his hips and around to his backside, pressing into the softer flesh there before sliding back to his hips to hold him steady. “I will make sure you don’t doubt my feelings for you.” A trail of kisses up, and his tongue circled Keith’s navel.

Keith sucked in a breath, “Lance!” He arched his head back, feeling the ends of his hair tickle his spine. He reached for the back of Lance’s head, inadvertently draping he robe over him as his fingers gripped and kneaded, trying with desperation to find purchase.

“Does it feel that good? You should keep looking at me, then.” Lance moved one hand from his hip again and slowly dragged a finger down a love line, but he skipped over his heat and touched his upper thighs. 

Heeding Lance’s command, Keith bowed his head. He met Lance’s gaze with dark, hungry eyes. Primal, desperate need came out of him in the form of his weeping sex. Shame never took hold of him as his he flung the robe away and raked his fingers into the short brown locks. He wanted to grip and pull him closer. Seeing Lance’s eyes devour him filled him with an urge he’d never known. He wanted everything, to be left at the mercy of all Lance could give and deny him. 

“You’re beautiful.” Lance looked up at all Keith had to show him, his own eyes darkening with lust as he took in the other man’s hungry gaze. His hands rested on those slender hips once more, and he urged him to come down to the floor with him. If he kept going, Keith would probably have a difficult time standing. And the contrast of his dark hands on Keith’s light skin only deepened his desire. “You’re mine.” 

Keith stared at Lance as he came down to meet him, the weave of the tatami floor imprinted into his knees. He moved in closer, their bodies flushed together, and the press of Lance’s uniform elicited the strangest mewls and whimpers from Keith’s lips. “Sit back.” He whispered as his hand slid down then inside Lance’s jacket to push the offending material to one side.

Lance groaned. There was something about that subtle push of his jacket that aroused him even more. He sat back at Keith’s urging and looked at him, his fingers lifting to touch his cheek. “Is this better?”

“Un.” Keith nodded and mirrored the motions of his right hand with his left, pulling the clothing off and letting it drop behind Lance. He slid his hands back to the front and straddled his hips over Lance’s lap, not liking the distance between them. He kissed him then, open mouthed and exploratory, his tongue asking for entry with a sweep over Lance’s teeth while his fingers made quick work of the buttons down the center of his chest.

Another groan escaped Lance’s lips, this time the sound getting muffled by Keith’s mouth as he shifted and allowed him to get his shirt off, now that his jacket was gone. “Nnn. Keith.” He whispered before taking his mouth in another kiss, his hands sliding down Keith’s sides and to his back, pulling him as close as he could without hindering their movements. 

Keith tugged the shirt out of Lance’s pants, and his hands didn’t bother with much else as they moved inside the uniform top. Fingers pressed and danced over his warm dark flesh, nails dragging up his sides around his back, doing everything he could to pull the man closer to him and force him further between his legs. 

“D-don’t stop.” Keith’s voice hitched into a small beg.

“I won’t.” Lance grinned and kissed him, his eyes half closing at the feel of Keith’s hands on his skin. “I’ll do more.” And he slid a hand from his back, over his hip, and down to touch his heat, one finger sliding over the tip. 

Keith cried into Lance’s mouth, digging his fingers into his back. “Lance!” 

Lance continued to kiss him, trying to absorb Keith’s moans as his fingers moved over him. He groaned a little at the feeling of Keith’s fingers pressing into his flesh, and it only made him move his own hand a little faster. There was a desperation there. It came from Keith, but it was starting to affect Lance, and after another stroke of his fingers, he curled his hand around Keith’s sex.

“Mmmmph!” Keith cried out, then pressed his face against Lance’s neck. His voice echoing back to his ears and filling him with a delighted mix of shame and freedom he never knew possible. Propriety, however, still lingered in the recesses of his mind, so he bit down on the edge of Lance’s collar to dampen his voice to muffled whimpers.

Lance grinned and moved his hand a little faster when Keith bit his collar. Did he have any idea how sexy that was? “I see you liked that.”

Keith trembled, his panting breaths shaking like restrained sobs. “I.. it’s.. I..” Keith gripped Lance tight as the accumulating pleasure reached a breaking point. With no control over his own actions, his body bowed back as his hips thrust toward Lance’s hand, emptying his need against the other’s stomach as he sat frozen in a satiric arch. 

When the tension left Keith, and he was no longer able to hold himself up, he melted down to the floor. His hips sprawled over Lance’s lap, thighs open and spread while his face turned to nuzzle languidly against the cold silk of his forgotten robe.

Lance shuddered, watching Keith’s body fold back to the tatami once that pleasure washed through him. “Was it too much to do here?” He leaned down and nuzzled his flushed cheek. “Are you okay?”

Keith moved his head go give Lance slow gratified kisses. “Mmn. Yeah. I’ve never…”

“Oh yeah? But you have otherwise?” Lance grinned against his lips as he kissed him again.

“My shower.” Keith’s voice was soft as Lance continued to lavish him.

Lance groaned and nipped at his lower lip. “Oh yeah? I would like to see that sometime.”

Keith whimpered, and a tiny pink tongue flicked over Lance’s bite. “How would that be any good? This felt so much better.” He didn’t try to hide the low purr in his voice.

“Well of course it feels better, but watching is something else.” Lance grinned and slid his fingers over Keith’s inner thighs. “It would be amazing. Imagine if you were watching me do that. Wouldn’t you be turned on?”

“Mmm.” Keith lifted his hand to touch the side of Lance’s cheek. “Would you show that to me?” His sex heating and twitching to semi-hardness under the soldier’s straying touch. 

“Hm. I suppose so. If you ask me nicely.” Lance grinned and slowly pulled his hand back. “But we shouldn’t get into it here or we’ll get caught, hm?”

“Isn’t too late to worry about that?” Keith pushed his lower lip out into a sultry pout as Lance sat upright again and away from him. He didn’t like him so far away, so he got himself up and pressed his body against his side, kissing over the caramel flesh of Lance’s shoulder as his arms hooked around his chest and back. “Cold.” He complained between his kisses.

“I think it’s better to worry about it now than when Coran walks in here while I’m pleasing you.” Lance turned his head and nuzzled the top of Keith’s head. “I’m sorry you’re cold. You were so hot a moment ago.”

Keith lifted his head to rest his chin where he’d been kissing. “You undressed me. Then moved away from me. So I’m cold.” Despite his complaints the long haired man sighed and let his arms drop from around Lance’s body. “It would be a problem if Coran caught us. We could head home.” A slow smirk cocked his lips and matched the impish glimmer in Keith’s eyes. “Continue on our bed.” He leaned in and let his nose then lips nuzzle the shell of Lance’s ear.

“Our?” Lance couldn’t help the giddy feeling that started in his stomach when Keith said the word, and the lips at his ear definitely added to it, but he nodded a little and turned his head so he could kiss him. 

“That would be the best place for us anyway, wouldn’t it? I’ll warm you up more than enough to make up for leaving you cold.”

The bit of sensitivity Keith’s touch brought about did not go unnoticed by the former maiko and he moved again to kiss along the inner shell of Lance’s ear, his breath blowing against the freshly wetted skin. “No one could hear the sounds meant only for you.” Keith already had a firm understanding of Lance’s jealousy, knowing full well what his words could do.

“Nnn… Good.” Lance moaned out the word as he turned darkened eyes to Keith. “Then you need to get cleaned up and dressed so we can go there as soon as possible.”

“Me? Most of it got on you.” Keith dragged the back of his nails down Lance’s taut stomach, smearing his mess into the dark skin. “But the polite thing to do would be for me to clean it.” With one more brief kiss, Keith crawled to the pitcher and readied another cloth. 

“It would be fair.” Lance watched the way Keith’s body moved when he got the cloth, and he smiled even though every muscle and curve was sending more heat through his body. “Just be gentle with me.”

“I wonder if I should feel bad for you.” Keith grinned over his shoulder. “Have I been too rough?” He teased when he came back, washing the warm towel over his abs.

Lance moved to keep his arousal from becoming too obvious. “Well…” He squirmed when the cloth touched his skin. The water may have been warm, but it was still cooler than he felt. “No, You’ve been perfect.”

Keith watched him, following the slightest twitch of Lance’s lips and wishing to be back under his hot mouth. Tongues twisting, rolling, leaving their flavor upon the other, and with a shudder he indulged himself once more, taking his lips as he gently gripped the fine hair as the back of Lance’s neck, his painted nails scratching with tender ministrations. “Perfect?” 

“Yes. Perfect. Who would have known that you would be such a sex kitten.” Lance licked at Keith’s lips before taking his mouth once more. “Though I should have guessed. You’re such a spitfire.” Another hot kiss, this one ending with a moan. “I like it. It makes me feel amazing knowing that you want me so desperately.”

“Sex kitten?” Keith broke the word down in his head, unfamiliar with the phrasing. “That’s a good thing then? You like it?” With an unsure smile on his lips, he started to stand up. He knew what desperation meant. He knew the precursors ‘pain’, ‘longing’, and ‘repression’ all too well. 

“I can be free with you. I’m allowed to be who I am when you’re around. I felt like that before, but now?” Keith’s ability to describe it seemed limited when he reached for the words. “Instinct. Impulse. Urges. I don’t have to deny them if you feel them to. It’s very liberating.”

Keith stood motionless at the closet, his arms bound up in his shirt while he froze himself in his own musings. His candlelit back facing Lance as the shadows played across the skin, the lion coming to life. The eyes following Lance no matter how Keith moved or didn’t.

“It’s very good, and I’m very happy. Don’t deny yourself anything when it comes to me.” Lance’s gaze locked on the lion, and for a moment he could have sworn that the eyes were boring into him, glowing a bright yellow before they seemed to fade back to the red of the rest of his body. He licked his lips and let his eyes travel down to the small of Keith’s back, over the curve of his butt before they moved back up to the lion. 

“How do you do it?”

Keith pulled on his leather pants, closing the zipper. With the belt still undone he pivoted to Lance. “Do what?” His hair bounced around him with the wild unkempt curls of a broken down updo, looking thick and sex mused.

“Make it move.” Lance crouched and started gathering up the discarded kimono. “I mean, it definitely seemed to be moving. It was staring at me.”

“A play of the light?” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “Or maybe it likes you.” He winked before kneeling down to take up his boots. “You gave it a lot of attention.” 

“Is that it?” Lance carefully gathered the rest of the fabric and looked at him. “And this? You said you bought it for me, right? So it’s one you can take home?”

“Yeah we can take that home. It’s mine.” Keith blushed as he tied back his hair but then the expression on his face wilted.

“About the tattoo and what you said. I know I’m strange, and it’s weird, but does it bother you? Like even if I was creepy and the lion could move or whatever, would it change anything?” 

“Well you’re certainly different, but that’s not a bad thing at all. I really like how you are.” Lance smiled and held the bundled fabric as he leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It just seems, I don’t know, almost magical. I think it’s pretty interesting. So if you’re worried, no. It doesn’t change anything. You are the one I want to be with.”

“Pidge would say there’s no such thing as magic. Everything can be explained.” Keith lifted his head to meet Lance’s eyes. “So, you believe in stuff like that? In this day and age?”

“Well, yeah. Isn’t it possible to believe in something even when surrounded by science and invention? I mean, the stuff Pidge works on in that shop amazes me. But it doesn’t explain everything right?” Lance smiled a little. “If people didn’t believe in magic, why have temples and churches? Isn’t all of that a little magical too?”

“Religion and magic aren’t exactly the same. But I’m not a philosopher.” Keith grinned. “But wouldn’t that be like saying I’m ah,” Keith thought on it for a moment, his eyes moving as if he were reading a page, something he often did when trying to translate a word or meaning for Lance. “What’s the word for it, angel. Right? Magical human shaped creatures with wings? Pure and radiant?” Keith leaned against door frame after sliding it open. “I’m certainly not one of those.”

“You’re absolutely an angel.” Lance followed him, holding the bundle and smiling. “And you’re my angel. I think that makes things pretty magical for me.”

Keith’s lips twitched up as he fell into step alongside Lance. “That’s a pretty bad pick up line, you know?” He folded his arms behind his back.

“What part of what just happened seems angelic to you?” Keith said as he massaged his thumb into the meat of of his palm

“Everything. You obviously don’t know how cute you are when you sleep.” Lance smirked. “And you’re sexy. And you like me even though I’m not that great of a guy.” He shifted the bundle of cloth in his arms.

Keith’s ears when a shade or two pinker. “Well, I dunno. I obviously like you.” 

Chuckling, Lance walked with him back to the shop. “Yeah? Well I obviously like you back.”

“I don’t know much about how cute or sexy or whatever, I am.” Keith opened the side door, shoving his shoulder against the frame to pop it open. 

“I don’t have any experience.” Keith walked up the steps, unaware of the sway his slow gait added to hips. The shift accented the way his leather pants hugged the curve of his backside. He stopped just before his door, lifting his leg across the narrow hall, his foot catching the railing blocking Lance’s entry into his studio.

“I don’t want to disappoint you or live up to a ghost you have of me.”

Lance stopped when he was blocked, and he pouted, his cheeks puffing out slightly. “Have you ever thought that maybe I’m just happy with you as you are? I’m glad you don’t have experience in this regard. Neither do I, really. I just read a lot. So there’s no way you could disappoint me unless you tell me I’m awful and you never want to see me again.” 

Keith’s eyes grew wide and his leg slipped down the wall. When he pressed his back against the door he fumbled for the knob to swing it open. “Read a lot? About sex between men?” Keith wasn’t admonishing Lance. The opposite in fact. He was insanely curious. “Where?” He let the door open, stumbling as he walked into the room, stopping only to slip his boots from his legs. 

“England. We were there for a short while, and they had people who would sell these scandalous story booklets.” Lance followed Keith and shut the door behind himself using his hip, since his arms were still full. “Most of them were about men and women, but there were a few about men and men, and women and women.”

“Like what?” Keith sat down on the bed the and leaned forward with his arms across his legs. The expression he wore was innocent and wide eyed, the same face he had whenever Lance talked about the places he’d been. 

“Well a lot of them seemed to be retellings of people’s secret affairs. I don’t know. Some of them were pretty graphic.” Lance shook his head a little and set the cloth down on a table and smiled at him. “I mean, a lot of places, people are very private. No one really talks about sex in public, so it’s a lot of secretive stuff.” He looked at him, but then he smiled and walked to him, reaching out to touch his cheek. “I mean, I guess at the time it was pretty interesting, but now I don’t really care about anyone but you.”

Keith leaned into his touch. “Only me? What secrets did you learn?” 

Lance leaned in and kissed him. “You’re the only one I want to do that with, and I want to be the only one you want to do it with.” He grinned against his lips. “I don’t know if I learned secrets so much as learned how to do it.”

Keith sighed between their lips. “You’ll teach me?” He scrunched his nose before he leaned to touch his nose to the tip of Lance’s. “I know you don’t gotta be careful with me. No more hair or makeup. I’m a guy, so it shouldn’t be complicated. No poetry required.” 

“But what if I want to woo you with poetics? Maybe I want to be gentle because I want to show you I value you more than anything or anyone.” Lance kissed him. “I like how you blush slightly when I say nice things. I like how you seem to want to kiss me more when I say something you like.” He kissed him again, this time nipping at Keith’s lower lip. “It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it doesn’t mean I have to be a brute about it either.”

“What if I like brutes too?” Keith laid himself back on the bed, scooting his hips up to let his fingers unclip the first buckle of his belt then snap the button on his pants. “I think I need you to show me what I like. So far, if it comes from you. I like it.”

“Well, I just said I didn’t have to be, right? That doesn’t mean I have to be gentle all the time either.” Lance grinned and leaned over him, gently tugging up his shirt as Keith undid his belt. “I’ll happily show you anything you want.”

Keith raised his arms for Lance to get his shirt off. “What was your favorite thing you read? Show me that first.” He weaved his fingers through the thin spokes of his headboard knowing how the position highlighted certain aspects of his body, which Lance’s eyes glued to. Keith made a habit of observing people and so far he observed Lance’s fondness for his ass and a particular fondness for stomach. He twisted his hips and flicked his eyes down for a second to watch his own muscles dance under his flesh becoming prominent with the wave of his breath. 

“Holy shit, Keith. Are you riling me up on purpose?” Lance’s eyes followed the exposed flesh once he pulled Keith’s shirt off, and with the way the smaller man was shifting and arching his body, his eyes couldn’t help themselves as they locked on his stomach. “I don’t know what my favorite thing I read is,” he murmured, his fingers now moving to finish removing Keith’s belt. “But I know you’re my favorite thing I can see and touch.” The tips of his fingers slid against his flesh as he began to pull open the unbuttoned pants.

“Nng!” Keith’s fingers gripped the spokes, his breath catching as goose bumps rose up in the chilled night air of his warming apartment. It blew over the hairs of his newly exposed skin and made his breath stutter and catch. “I’m seducing you. Didn’t your books talk about that?” Candle light glinted with impish glee in his odd colored eyes.

“Oh? You’re seducing me by laying there and having me do all the touching?” Lance grinned as his fingers stopped when he pushed the pants open enough to pull them down. There was a wicked glint in his eyes as he pushed the fabric and exposed his hips, but stopped before his sex was exposed. 

“I told you, I’m new at this.” Keith gasped with the sudden jerk of his pants, pouting as the tight leather stuck against curve of his bottom. He shifted with discomfort. “get the rest off, and I’ll touch you however you want.” 

Lance smirked. “Oh I suppose I should be nice, and help you then? Though this is a nice view.” But he tugged his pants down the rest of the way, freeing him from the confines of the leather. “This is a nicer view.”

“Do you want to just look at me?” Keith blushed, the words never carrying a note of antagonism. “If that’s all you want.” 

Lance reached down and traced a love line. “Oh? Is looking at you bad?”

“N-no.” Keith’s cheeks puffed out in a pout preventing a squeak from breaking free. 

“But you think I don’t want to touch you?” Lance smirked as he continued to slide his finger along the crease. “Didn’t you say you’d touch me if I got your pants off?” He chuckled. 

“Yeah.” Keith whispered, licking his lips as he watched Lance’s fingers move through the rivets of his hips. “Let me.” The headboard plunked as he let go to grip the thick hide of Lance’s belt, using the hold to pull himself into a sit. “This is what you want?” Keith kissed him, as his hands slid down to the buckle. He worked his fingers with daft precision, the sound of clinking metal filling the room.

Lance’s eyes closed halfway as Keith took over, and he groaned softly against his lips as Keith managed to get the belt undone. “I want you. I want you however you will let me have you. And I want you to want me, too” He whispered and nuzzled the other man’s cheek with his lips.

“I want you.” Keith didn’t finish the words before he kissed Lance again, one hand slipping into the waist band of his underwear while other glided up his perfect caramel skin to slip against the side of his neck. 

“You wanted to do this whenever you were helping me with my arm, didn’t you?” Lance tilted his head at Keith’s touch to his neck, and he reached down to push his trousers down so Keith would have an easier time with his underwear. 

Keith lowered kisses down Lance’s neck, first with the smallest of nuzzles turning into nibbled bites along the artery and to his shoulder. “Every damn time. It was almost too much.” His fingers found Lance’s hair line and tugged his head further to the side, leaving him exposed to his possessive devouring mouth which left a trail of bruising marks in its wake.

“Mmm.” Lance felt heat rush through his body with every little kiss and nibble. His eyes remained partially closed, and he rested a hand on Keith’s hip, fingers stroking the pale skin. “Well now you can touch me all you want. You probably could have then, too. I just wasn’t really sure how I felt.”

“You would have been terrified.” Keith trailed his tongue slowly up the line of Lance’s neck to the shell of his ear where nipped and sucked at the pliant flesh. “You didn’t know me.” He growled out, holding Lance’s earlobe between his teeth.

“Confused, sure, but I doubt I would have been terrified.” Lance moaned and tilted his head to give him even more access to his ear and neck. “I knew I found you attractive, at least.”

“You wanted Keiko.” Keith moved his other hand further into Lance’s pants, feeling the heat of his hard need radiate off him. The sensation made the smaller man groan and when he touched it he blinked and gasped. 

Pulling away, he stared down at his hand. “I-um.” Seeing Lance’s aching sex resting beside his hand dried Keith’s throat and left him parched for words and barren of bravado. This was real. 

“L-lance.”

“You made me like this. Keith, not ‘Keiko,’ so you don’t need to worry about that.” Lance murmured and slid a finger along Keith’s jaw. “See how hot it is for you?” He leaned in and kissed him, his movements suddenly a lot more languid than before. Keith had no idea just how sexy his innocence was, did he? Sure, he was super into it whenever they got to something, but these little moments of cuteness were nice too. “And it’s not the first time you’ve done this to me, you know.”

“At the Geisha House?” Keith asked between kisses his heart racing. Somehow, he found himself laying back on the bed again. With Lance’s body leaning over him. That secret part still exposed, expectant, and wanting something from him. Keith’s face flared when he caught himself staring and he instantly turned his head up and to the wall. 

Keith wanted to hide under the covers. He couldn’t believe he got so worked up by an erection. He groaned and hid his face in his hands, doing very little to hide the betrayal of his red ears. He’d seen the male anatomy hundreds of times! He was one! So now the palatable unfairness of his embarrassment drowned him.

“Yes, but before tonight.” Lance moved and removed the rest of his clothing so he was really in all of his naked glory. “The first night I slept here, you laid against me, and all I could think about was making you mine.” He took one of Keith’s hands and brought it down to touch his hot flesh. “See? It’s still all I can think about.”

“La-Lance!” For the third time in Keith’s short life. He squeaked. “I can’t! I don’t know how!” As Keith panicked his hand twitched where Lance had placed it, and in the tornado of complaints trying to come out of Keith’s mouth all at once, he quirked an eyebrow up. His hand kept moving, and the dark haired youth realized, Lance’s shaft wasn’t so different from his own. A bit hotter, about as thick, and a tad longer. He blinked at Lance then down where his hand wrapped around him. If they were similar then the stuff Keith liked, Lance might like too. 

Keith swallowed down the lump in his throat and started to work his hand. “You’ll tell me if I hurt you, right?”

“Nnn, yes. But this won’t hurt as long as you don’t tug too violently.” Lance’s words came out as husky breaths, dark eyes locking on Keith. He guided his hand for a few strokes before he let go to rest his hands on Keith’s hips, as if that would keep him steady. “Nnn. Keith, you’re amazing.”

“Like how I’d do it, right?” Keith nodded unaware of his confession as his hand moved on its own, showing Lance how he’d please himself. “Me too. Like you said, that first night you stayed here. I wanted you too.”

Lance moaned at Keith’s actions, which only seemed hotter now with that confession that he does it to himself. It was a normal thing. Keith was a guy, after all, but hearing it from those pale lips was something else. “That was the first time it got like this.” His cheeks were red as he looked down at Keith. “Kiss me…” He moaned and leaned in. 

“Okay.” Keith whispered, his eyes to closing as Lance pressed their lips together. He whimpered into his mouth with a starved need. His hand moving with the stokes of their tongues and the gliding pressure of their bodies.

Another moan escaped Lance, muffled by the kiss, which he returned with a passion he didn’t even know he had. “Keep kissing me so you know you have me.”

“I know I have you.” Keith broke contact for only the breath he needed to speak, then delved back into the hot wanting cavern of Lance’s mouth.

Sounds of pleasure escaped Lance’s lips and got lost in Keith’s as he kissed him back with as much passion and need he could muster while his body arched closer to the other man. His hands held Keith’s hips, fingers pressing into his flesh.

Keith moaned Lance’s name with a slow, honey coated voice. Everything his partner did, from the almost painful grip on his sides to the searing heat in his kisses, left Keith bordering on a euphoric delirium. His heart rushing fevered blood through his body, centering on one specific point between his legs. 

“More Keith, please.” Lance’s voice was a soft whimper, and his hips pushed towards Keith’s hand. He lightened his grip, but he still held him close. “Please.”

Keith’s mind went blank, the sensations overwhelming him. He had been brought down to a hopeless creature made of pure instinct. He did the first thing his body wanted him to do. He took Lance’s mouth in a forceful kiss and seized them both into his hand. Heat constrained inescapably against heat, as labored gasps of air were all the sounds Keith could make.

“Ah!” Lance could barely contain his voice when he felt Keith hold them together like that, and his hand moved to help him hold them in that way. He moaned against Keith’s lips and whimpered as his hips thrust forward. He didn’t last long before he came in a burst of heat and a flash of white. “Keith!”

Keith cried out, his neck tossing back, and the sinful white fluid landed hot against his stomach bringing the man through the last blinding quakes of his own orgasm. His second of the evening brought about by Lance’s savant hand.

Keith found his missing breath, his head crooked to the left, eyes closed tight and brow furrowed. Aftershocks made it impossible for him to catch a proper lungful of air, so he made due with shaking, shallow gulps.

Lance sank down on the bed beside Keith, panting as he tried to get his world back to normal. His hand rested on Keith’s stomach and idly smeared their combined mess there, though the action made the warmth in his own body spread. “Keith…” He managed between breaths. “That was…” 

Keith rolled his head to see Lance. Unable to speak, his mind still digesting what happened. So he focused on the face before him. The shining aquamarine eyes, dark unblemished skin, and the faintest hint of kissably visible freckles. Lance spoke in broken praises to Keith but he wondered if the Cuban man had any awareness of his own beauty or of the stray strands of golden sun bleached hair glinting in the candle light.

Lance looked at Keith, smiling a bit at the way his pale cheeks were tinged with a flush of red. He kept his hand on Keith’s stomach, fingers absently finding the lines of his abs and tracing them, though he never looked away from the deep amethyst eyes that stared back at him. “Hey.” Did Keith know how beautiful he was? Would he get mad at Lance if he told him? “You’re amazing.”

“H-hi.” Keith replied before he forced his face into the pillow. “I’m not ‘amazing’!” He yelled with a muffled cry. One shy eye dared to venture out from below the dark vail of his to see Lance. “It-it was okay though?”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh at Keith’s little display of shyness. Did he know he was this adorable? “Of course it was okay. It was better than okay. We both came, didn’t we?” He reached out with his clean hand and pushed Keith’s hair from his face. “Don’t be so embarrassed to look at me hm? Or I’ll be the one worried it’s not okay.”

“Well.. that.. what we just. I mean.” Keith picked up the pillow and held it over his face as his legs kicked out. He tried to rid himself of the vertiginous energy inside his stomach. 

 

“I’m okay. I’m all right.” Keith muffled to reassure himself but then he froze. Lifting up the pillow he scooted up to sit on his legs and the boy looked like he could keel over at any second.

 

“I-I’m sorry!! I didn’t ask! I just, and then?!” Keith bowed forward not paying any mind to the mess on his stomach. “Are you okay?! After I.. the things I did… did I hurt you?” From the top of his head down to his trembling shoulders and fidgeting fingers Keith’s anxiety showed through. If he’d taken advantage of the situation at any time, he would take responsibility for it.

When Keith sat up, Lance’s hand fell from his stomach to his thigh, and he patted it gently in an attempt to reassure him, though the evidence of their pleasure was still on his hand, so was now on Keith’s thigh. “You’re thinking too much. Lay back down.” He rolled onto his back so he could look up at him better. “What did you do that’s making you so apologetic? You touched me? You rubbed yourself against me? It’s not like either of us can get pregnant. Neither of us are helpless. Neither of us took advantage of each other.” He rubbed Keith’s thigh. “So come back down here and kiss me, you idiot.”

Keith worried his lip, blushing at the smear against his stomach. Their combined desire surmounted into what Lance pressed into his skin. Years of repression for blissful minutes of unimaginable passion. He laid down beside him, his face pressed into Lance’s shoulder. Keith’s ebony tresses pooling on his chest, twisting into ivory fingers as the smaller man caressed the flat planes. 

Keith kissed his neck once before pecking Lance’s lips. “I’m sorry. I got-I don’t know what I got. If I hurt you or if I did too much...” Keith needed Lance to like him even half the amount Keith adored Lance.

“You got nervous because you’ve never done this before. That’s normal, I think.” Lance smiled and moved his arm so he could hold Keith against his side. “And we only did a little touching. Are you going to be able to handle it if we do any more than that?” He grinned and kissed the top of Keith’s head, nuzzling into his hair. “I mean, I think it’s cute, so I don’t mind, but if you freak out on me when we start to have sex, that might be weird.”

“Was I freaking out? And guys aren’t cute.” Keith pouted into Lance’s neck before he leaned up. “More than? There’s more?” The touching and grinding made perfect sense, but they didn’t have the same parts as woman. So he couldn’t fathom what ‘more’ meant. Keith looked around at all his books and drawings of various bikes and engines but not a damn one of those things helped him now. He hadn’t realize how naïve and simple he was. 

Shiro’s overprotective nature made sense. He never explained anything to Keith outside the basics. Maybe if Shiro didn’t have to go further than ‘the typical’ he wouldn’t have to face the reality he was harboring an abnormal. Despite all the other questionable things he made Keith do. “Will you tell me?”

“I will tell you. I will show you. I will fumble with you because I’ve never done any of this either. I’ve only read about it.” Lance smiled at Keith’s reaction. He really was cute, wasn’t he? The cutest, in fact. Lance almost couldn’t handle it. “And we will learn together. And hopefully you’ll still like me after all of it.” He presses a kiss to his lips. “And if you still like me, we’ll do more.”

“You’re making it sound like some sort of torture.” Keith raised an eyebrow. “Is there some kind of initiation I have to do? Hang me the ceiling? I know how sex works between ‘other’ people. I don’t know how it works for me.” Keith wanted to make sure Lance understood where his knowledge laid. Active innocence or feigning stupidity had not been what the young man was striving for. If no one ever told him about a part of him he kept secret, he could only work on assumptions. Even Lance clammed up when asked.

“Well, whatever it is. I’ll still like you.” Keith curled in tighter. “I only have five more days with you. You have to show me everything. I don’t know if some else would be patient like you.”

Lance blinked, but then he shook his head. “You have as long with me as you’d like. I just may not be able to see you as often, that’s all.” He kissed the top of his head again. “But I haven’t done any of it either, so I can’t imagine it’s anything as crazy as you just said. I never read anything like that.” He nudged Keith to lay on his back and he moved, carefully sliding his hands over his thighs, his brows furrowing. “Keith?” He looked down at his calves and gently touched a bruise that seemed to be forming there. ”What’s this?” How come he didn’t notice the bruises until now? They stood out like inks on porcelain. But Lance had just been so distracted with everything else, that he didn’t see them until now.

“Tch.” Keith winced and lifted his leg. Surrounding a quill sized hole, purple and blue marks discolored the skin on the back of each calf. “My arms,” he started while covering the area with self-conscious hands. “Inside, there’s too much scar tissue from the transfusions. So the old man takes the blood from there once in a while. He was in hurry this time. Seemed anxious about something. So he slipped.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Lance sighed before he frowned and shook his head. “Don’t get another one of those treatments. This kind of bruising isn’t right.” He slid back up and pulled Keith into his arms. “Stay with me. If he tries to force you to go, I’ll stop him.”

“If I don’t, it could be bad.” Keith didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t go for treatment. He’d never missed an essential one. “Shiro wouldn’t let me do something if he didn’t trust it. He took over getting me to them after his dad died.” Keith nuzzled into lance’s chest. 

“I don’t care if Shiro trusts it.” Lance muttered and held him closer. “I don’t like it. I don’t need to know exactly what’s going on to know it’s not normal, and it’s hurting you.” He sighed into Keith’s hair and closed his eyes. He didn’t understand why Keith was so okay with it when it clearly wasn’t good for him.

Keith bit his lip. He made a promise not to hide anymore and he cursed the vow now. “I don’t know what Pidge told you, but I’m pretty sure it was a lie to protect you.” He lifted himself up to lean over Lance’s face. “There’s something wrong with me. No one know what it is. I don’t even know how to explain it. I can do things other people can’t. I’m stronger than I should be. Faster than I should be. You feel it too. Under all the warm and fuzzy feelings you get when your around me, there’s also something that makes you uncomfortable.” Keith’s smiled with a gentle warmth as he stroked his fingers over Lance’s cheek. “It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me.” 

“Shiroganesan and Sam were the first to notice something was ‘off’ when I was a kid. So they ran tests on me. Skin, blood, hair, narrow. Some sucked more than others, but Shiroganesan always made sure it was never too much. But since my last growth spurt Sam’s been asking for it about once a month to make sure there are no life altering changes. But I’ll admit, twice in a week is a bit much. It’s been three times this month.” Keith yawned. 

“I don’t want to cause problems. They’re doing all this because they’re worried about me.” Keith played with the ends of Lance’s hair and chuckled to lighten to mood. “Keiko loved your hair curls.”

“The only thing that’s ever made me uncomfortable around you was when Shiro tried to make me think you two had sex.” Lance frowned at Keith’s admission that it had been three times in a month. That was definitely too much. So he sighed and he pulled Keith down against his chest again. “You don’t cause problems, but maybe you should. Even if they’re worried about you…” He gently ran his fingers through Keith’s hair and sighed. “It’s too much.” He sighed. “If they try to get you to go again, take me with you. I won’t trust it until I see it.” Though he had to admit, the feeling of Keith’s fingers in his hair definitely helped soothe him.

“You’re gone in five days.” Keith held him a little tighter. “Four, now.”

“You’re talking about it as if you’re never going to see me again…” 

“If they send you away?” Keith found Lance’s hand and held it. “You can’t come back that easily.”

“I’ll fight it.” Lance squeezed his hand. “Don’t be so quick to get rid of me. You’re stuck with me now.”

“You make it sound ominous.”

“Well you’re the one already burying me.” Lance’s lower lip stuck out as he puffed his cheeks. “So mean.”

“I wasn’t burying anyone!” Keith sat up again. “Getting sent away is not killing you! Don’t joke like that.” His sad dark eyes focused toward the ceiling. The words upset him more than he wanted Lance to know.

“I’d rather have you somewhere I can reach you than be completely without you.” A long sigh escaped Keith before he lightly touched his forehead to Lance’s, his eyes closed. “Don’t ever be out of my reach.”

“I don’t plan on ever being out of your reach.” Lance’s pout melted into a little smile, and he gave Keith a chaste little kiss. “But the same goes to you hm? Don’t leave me. I finally have you, and I finally feel like everything makes sense.” He held Keith as close as their bodies would allow. “I like that it makes sense.”

“Are you crazy? Nothing makes sense.” Keith chuckled. “You’re in an apartment above a parts shop cuddling after having, according to you, sorta sex with a cross dressing maiko engine freak.”

“You did not think your leave was gonna go this way.” Keith laughed against Lance’s lips when he kissed him. “Oh, and did I mention the creepy tattoo? Because there’s that too. Oh yeah! and the whole lab rat thing. I got that going on.” Keith rolled his eyes. “You got yourself involved in something that won’t ever make sense, Lance. You’ve got fucked up tastes.”

“If you think so badly of yourself, when I clearly like you, and so you think I have fucked up tastes, why do you like me?” Lance puffed his cheeks out again. “I like your tattoo. It’s different and cool.” He kept pouting. “Sure, I don’t like whatever the hell those treatments are, but they don’t make you bad. And you’re not cross-dressing now, or anymore, are you? That was because you wanted to be close to me. But you hated it, I guess.” He shook his head. “But it still makes sense to me. I don’t care that I didn’t think it would happen. It did. And I’m happy about it. Besides I feel happy and comfortable for the first time since leaving my family to be in the army.” Lance closed his eyes and held Keith as close as he can. “I feel like I will be okay.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly hate dressing up.” Keith replied honestly. “I liked the way you looked at me. Your eyes got all bright and starry.” Keith repressed a chuckle behind his hand, a habit he picked up from Keiko. He arched his brow and dropped his hand the same instant he noticed it. 

“Well, as long as you come back to me, you’ll always have a place here.” Keith rested his chin on Lance’s chest. “If they do ship you out, what’s the time limit before I find a new partner? Hmm?” He teased.

“I’m still looking at you like that, you know.” Lance leaned in and nuzzled Keith’s cheek with his lips. “I won’t leave without you. Like I said, you’re stuck with me.” He really hoped things would work out the way he wanted them to. “And if you ever try to find a new partner while I’m alive, I may have to kill them, just so you’re warned.”

“You really are the jealous type, aren’t you?” Keith kissed him again. 

“Yeah, I am. But I can’t help it. I don’t want to lose you now that I have you.” Lance opened his eyes and smiled at him. “And you’ve seen the effect you have on me.”

“Yeah but… I had you pegged all wrong at first. You’re a bit more complicated than just an Army Prick and spoiled rich kid.” Keith relaxed and sunk his weight down against Lance. “Right now, I’m the one feeling like the spoiled brat.” Keith eyes started to drift as Lance’s body heat spread under him.

“I mean I am a spoiled rich kid.” Lance nuzzled his hair and rubbed his back a little. “And I am going to spoil you because I want you to be happy. And I enjoy seeing the way you smile when you’re happy.”

“That doesn’t sound half bad.” Keith yawned out, curling up a little more as he pulled his red flannel blanket around them.

“It won’t be bad. But for now, you should sleep before you pass out on me, and I start feeling bad for myself for boring you.” Lance chuckled softly and continued to hold Keith, but he shifted the blanket, so they could both be a little more snug.

As if waiting for Lance’s permission, Keith sunk into to sleep. His fingers slacked, and his breathing came out deep and even. He’d fallen into a real sleep. It took hold of him and dragged him down into its blissful dreamless depths. Not surprising after untold days of running himself ragged between the shop, the geisha house, and the lab. 

Once Keith was asleep, Lance gently pushed some of that raven hair out of his face, watching the way Keith finally seemed to relax now that he was out. He sighed softly, silently vowing to protect Keith the best he could, especially since those “treatments” were clearly hurting him. Maybe he would confront Shiro or Sam about it. Either way, he knew he didn’t want to leave Keith alone and vulnerable, and he would do anything to make sure he could stay with him.


	8. Suikazura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A Narrative Summary is provided for those who did not wish to read explicit content**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Honeysuckle** _Suikazura 忍冬_ \- Generous 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **NEW ART - A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

The past few days had been perfect, and Lance really didn’t want them to end. He was able to spend his time with Keith. He was able to hold him in his arms as they slept. He ate breakfast with him, he helped him in the shop, he took him out for little dinner dates. They spent all their time together, and Lance felt like he was at home when he was with Keith. He felt whole, happy, and satisfied. Even when they were behaving, the subtle touches of their hands, bumps of their hips, all set warmth throughout his body. At night, the fevered kisses, the embraces. Keith was quite naive at first, which was adorable, of course, but once they got into things, he seemed super eager and super into messing around. And there was a part of Lance that enjoyed showing Keith new things and bringing out the sex kitten in him. So each night was an exploration of the different ways they could please each other, though they hadn’t had sex yet. Lance was actually kind of relived about that, since he wanted to make sure Keith didn’t regret anything with him.

Everything was amazing, even though he learned that Keith had been receiving “treatments” more often than he should. Even though he still didn’t know or understand the reason behind him. All he knew was that Keith wasn’t technically sick as Pidge had said. That he was stronger, faster, better than what someone should be if they were “normal” and that seemed to be a source of insecurity for him. Lance wanted to make it better. Seeing those bruises on his legs made him want to take him away and stop everything. And he would, but Keith tried his best to reassure him. It didn’t really work, but he tried. Kisses, touches, playing with his hair. Keith did so much to make Lance feel better that it almost made him feel worse.

But aside from the underlying fear that Keith was being hurt with those “treatments,” everything was perfect, and he refused to give it up. So he was prepared to fight for his job. To keep him here with Keith. He would do anything.

Lance sat in the chair opposite his supervisor’s desk. Despite how nervous he actually was about this meeting, he refused to let it show. He sat up straight, his hands folded in his lap, the brace Pidge finished clamped comfortably on his arm. He watched his boss shuffle and read papers for what seemed like an eternity, the older man’s expression shifting from concern, to intrigue, to annoyance, and back to intrigue again before he finally lifted his head and looked to Lance.

“So you spent every day at the shop?” The man’s elbows rested on his desk, and he folded his hands together, watching Lance carefully. “While they made that brace for your arm. You got to know the patrons well?”

“Yes Sir.”

“And you would say they trust you and treat you as a friend?”

“Yes Sir.”

The man sat back in his chair and watched him for a moment. “And the neighborhood? You know it?”

“I would not say I know it well, but I can get around, if that is what you mean.” Lance shifted, but remained poised.

His boss nodded and leaned forward again. “I have a new assignment for you then, McClain.”

Lance felt his heart sink into his stomach, and his lips twitched, but he refused to show any emotion on his face. This is what he was dreading. “Yes Sir.” He murmured, his voice lacking the strength it had only moments before.

“I want you to continue to spend your time there.”

“Eh?” Lance perked up and almost launched himself from his chair. “I do not understand, Sir. You want me to go into town instead of go back to active duty? Am I being punished?”

“Oh. No. Of course not.” The older man grimaced. “I understand I was harsh with you at the beginning of your leave, but I should have believed you when you insisted you had not made the digression Private Collins claimed. You were correct, of course. He did shoot you, and he did lie to take your promotion. Unfortunately, command has taken that position off the table, but they also gave me the ability to offer you a job based on your merits.”

“My merits? Piloting and shooting?” Lance’s brows furrowed. Where was this going? He didn’t even care enough to feel vindicated because he never would have met Keith if Collins hadn’t messed him up the way he did.

“Honesty.” His boss sat back again. “That area is a hotbed of rebel activity, and we have been tasked at sniffing it out. Since you are well known there, and your presence would not be seen as unusual, I want you to continue to spend your days at the shop, and I want you to report any rebel activity you find.”

“So you want me to spy.” Lance frowned. Spy on what? Who? Surely his boss knew he hadn’t actually seen anything that would have been beneficial, right?

“Spy? No no. That’s such a crude idea. I want you to observe. I do not want you to interfere, just watch, judge, and report. And I want you to focus on this list of places.” He slid over a piece of paper.

Lance picked the paper up and read it. The shop. The ramen place. The geisha house. Shay’s restaurant, and several other local establishments were on the list. But the shop was underlined with a star. “Sir?”

“That is what we suspect to be the center of all rebel operations. We don’t expect that you would have seen anything while you were there, of course, since it would be well hidden. But I want you to look a little deeper. Use whatever methods you find appropriate, but do not compromise the mission.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Go. You will be given a stipend to buy some common clothes.”

Lance stood. “I wore my uniform every day, Sir. Why would I need to buy regular clothes?” Lance felt something twist in his stomach. Was this actually something he could do? Could he spy on his friends? Was something else going on that he didn’t understand? The thought of betraying Keith made him sick.

“It is in the file the secretary has for you when you leave. But the short of it is that you are being tasked with improving the relations between the locals and our army. An ambassador of sorts. We prefer you to wear more comfortable clothing so the locals warm up to you, and therefore to us.”

“But it is really to keep suspicion of my observations, as you call them, down?”

“You have always been perceptive. McClain.” The boss grinned before shooing Lance out of his office.

Lance saluted before he turned and walked out of the office, shoving the slip of paper into his pocket before he picked up the packet from the secretary. He sighed and walked to his bunk, scribbling a note to Hunk that he was out in the town, that he would come back tonight to talk to him. He pulled a smaller envelope out of the larger one, thumbing through the wad of money before tucking it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

His brain was whirring. He was so thrown by his conversation with his boss, and even as he looked up at the Vol-Tron sign, he wasn’t sure how to process it. How could he do this? Why didn’t he argue? Lance knew. Lance had said he would do anything to be with Keith. Even if it meant betraying the army.

With a deep breath, he pushed through the door and forced a bright smile on his face. “I’m back!”

In an instant a fist came out of the shadows and had a grip around Lance’s shirt collar. The hand, then arm slamming the soldier back against with an aggressive amount of force. Hot devouring lips covered his, as a swirling tongue barged between his teeth and pillaged Lance’s mouth for all the pink muscles could take.

Edging back and licking his smug lips, the curl of Keith’s cool smirk baring his lone fang. “Everyone’s out. So hi.”

Lance didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t such a forceful and arousing greeting. And when the kiss broke, and Keith looked at him with that smirk, Lance’s cheeks burned. “H…Hi.” He managed, lifting his hand to his cheek to touch a tiny smear of grease that was there. Of course, Keith looked good in anything he wore, but there was something sexy about those shop coveralls and the messy bun on top of his head. “Oh? All of them? So we’re alone?”

“Mmhmm.” Keith purred, nuzzling Lance’s hand. “No one should be here for about an hour. Pidge went to catch a shipment. Shiro has a deadline to catch up to, and the old man is gone all day at the clock tower. So,” he dragged a finger down the center of Lance’s chest. “I have some free time.”

Lance seemed to crumble against Keith, dropping his hand only to wrap his arms around the smaller man. “That’s…Good. Good.” He rested his forehead against Keith’s shoulder. “I…need to talk to you, and I’d rather do it with no one else around.”

Keith stiffened. “O-okay.” Lance breaking down like stale bread did not carry with it the confidence boosting reaction Keith expected after his plotted surprise attack. Instead a weight sunk to the bottom of his gut. 

“You had your meeting today.” Keith’s lips brushed into the fringes of Lance’s hair. “They’re sending you away?”

“No, they’re not.” Lance’s arms tightened around him. Maybe bringing it up after a knee-weakening kiss wasn’t the best idea, but he just wanted to get this done. “The opposite actually.” He lifted his head from Keith’s shoulder. “They want—” He stopped and looked around the shop as though to make sure nothing or no one else could hear him. And just to satisfy himself, he took Keith’s hand and walked back into the workshop, still holding his hand as he shut the door. “They want me to continue to come here every day.”

Keith arched an incredulous brow, snapping his gaze from the locked work room door and Lance’s face. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“Because it’s not right.” Lance looked at him. “They want me to spy on this place, on some other places.” His shoulders slumped. “They’re officially saying that I’m working around town as an ambassador to improve relations with the citizens and the army, but…” He looked down for a moment and grimaced. “I couldn’t say no, but I don’t plan on doing what they want, either.”

“Lance.” Keith pushed Lance back against the wall his arm pressed against his chest. This time the fire would not be found in his kiss. Twilight eyes burn into Lance’s. “Are you an idiot?! Just saying stuff like that?!” His voice pitched and cracked. 

“You don’t have to tell me any more than that. It’s dangerous! You got that?!”

Lance winced a little when he was pushed back, letting out a puff of air at the impact. He bowed his head again and nodded once. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone else. Just you.” His shoulders trembled slightly as he tried to keep himself in check. “But I wasn’t going to hide it from you. If you never want to talk to me again because of it, I understand.”

Keith stared Lance down for a breath before he sighed, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I wore makeup and dressed in a kimono every night for a month. Do you think simple espionage is gonna take you away from me?”

Lance lifted his head and pouted. “You scolded me, though.” He sighed. “I don’t want to do it. I don’t plan on doing it.” He slumped against the wall and closed his eyes. “But I wasn’t given a choice. So I have to pretend. It means I can stay with you, and I’ll do anything to stay with you.”

“I want you with me.” Keith nuzzled his nose into Lance’s cheek, his arms looping around his shoulders. “I’d do anything to keep you with me. Shiro asked me to keep tabs on you too.”

“When did that happen?” Lance’s arms wrapped around Keith, but brows furrowed as he opened his eyes and stared at him.

“The night you thought I slept with him.” Keith laid his head on Lance’s shoulder, inhaling the scent of him and leaving a little hint of a kiss against the mark he left last night in the cradle of his neck and collar. 

“You didn’t show up for Keiko, and my head wasn’t straight. I ended up at Shiro’s and told him everything.” Keith kept his voice soft and steady. “I told him what I said to you. That I had feelings for you and that I was dressing up as a woman to keep seeing you. He was mad at first. Told me I was reckless but blamed himself because he was the one who dressed me up the night you first saw me.” Keith played with the back of Lance’s hair. 

“He wasn’t going to stop me from doing what I wanted, but figured I should be useful. If I heard anything suspicious I had to report back to him.” 

Lance tensed. If he didn’t like Shiro before, now he almost hated him. But as angry as he was with Shiro, and even a little with Keith for hiding this from him for two weeks, he didn’t let it show. Of course Keith would hide it. Keith was hiding the whole Keiko thing up until five days ago. But why didn’t he tell him then? “But you didn’t report anything back, right, Kitten?” He couldn’t keep the hurt from his voice, but he lifted a hand to touch Keith’s cheek. He needed to trust Keith.

Keith shivered at the nickname. He hated it at first, it felt silly and demeaning, but Lance used it only between them. With the name whispered in his ear, Lance touched and kissed Keith. Lance’s husky voice would rumble it in the dark, against pale hot flesh. The pet-name started to warm his body when heard it. A Pavlovian response. 

“No I didn’t report anything. I never asked about your job. When we were together I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to be with you.” The red telltale flush came to Keith’s cheeks. His lips chased after Lances fingers. “As Keiko, or working on the bike. It was never about stupid games. I just wanted more time with you.”

Lance sighed a little in relief and shook his head before he reached out and pulled Keith to his chest, holding him close. He whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me?” And he closed his eyes as he pressed his face into his hair. “And what kind of idiot asks you to spy on a man that was on forced leave? I wouldn’t have had anything to say anyway…I always knew he hated me.” His shoulders slumped.

“You tolerated so damn much. I didn’t want to give you another reason on top of hundreds you already have to dislike me.” Keith relaxed in his arms. “He doesn’t hate you. He’d never let you this close if he did. He’s not an idiot. He knows the nature of our relationship. He does think that you’ll get me in trouble.” 

Keith pulled back enough to see Lance’s face. “He treats me like I’m glass. But unlike you, he doesn’t know half of what I’m capable of. Aaaaand he doesn’t need to know.” Keith added with a tap to Lance’s nose. 

“Do you really want to spend more time talking about Shiro?” Keith walked his fingers up the bridge of Lance’s nose and bapped him between the eyes. 

Lance’s eyes crossed at the tap to his nose, but then he refocused and looked at Keith, his lips twitching into what could have been a smile, if he didn’t still look so concerned. “I don’t have any reason to dislike you, Kitten. And I have no intention of getting you into trouble. I would never do that. I hope you know that at least.” He rested his hands on Keith’s waist. “You’re more likely to get me in trouble, but try not to get me any more black eyes okay? I look much better without one.” Now he smiled and leaned in to nuzzle his cheek. “I need you to think I’m hot all the time.”

“That won’t happen again. I’ll cut down anything that comes close to you.” Keith rolled his hips into Lance’s hands. “You got me on your side. I’ll protect you. Can’t have anyone touching such a perfectly maintained complexion, mmm soldier boy?” 

“Oh yeah? You did a pretty good job cutting them down the first time, I just got hit first.” Lance nuzzled his cheek once more before he kissed it. 

“I did. And you liked watching me do it.” Keith pressed his body closer, letting Lance absorb his body heat.

“I did. I enjoyed seeing you move all sexy, even if I didn’t like that other guys were trying to touch you.” Lance nuzzled down to his neck and kissed there.

“It’s a fight. It’s what people do.” Keith chuckled, bending his leg up and guiding Lance harder against him until Keith’s back met the tarped hood of his airbike.

“I don’t have to like it even if you were defending my honor.” Lance grinned and pressed against him. “I’m a bit of a possessive type, you know. And I get jealous easily, if you haven’t figured out.”

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed?” Keith’s impish grin show cased his fang. “Here I thought the hickies down my back were just for decoration.” He couldn’t keep up the dry tone in his voice as his words cracked into laugh. The chiming pitch adding to the glimmer in his eyes. He loved when Lance made him laugh.

Lance grinned. “Well you liked when I left them.” He kept himself close to Keith, trying to absorb some of his warmth. “And I liked the sounds you made when I did.”

“Hmm? Do I need to remind you,” Keith whispered this time as he nosed Lance’s ear before nipping the shell of it. “No one is here right now.” He wrapped his leg up around Lance’s waist, pulling the taller man in and grinding himself against his thigh.

“I don’t think I’d mind a reminder.” Lance smirked as he felt himself grind a bit against Keith. “And I don’t think you would, either.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against the smaller man’s jaw. “And I think I should make sure you remember just how much I want to be with you.”

\-----

Keith stirred an hour later, his head pressed against the back of Lance’s shirt, his own clothes disheveled and sullied by the result of their bodies rubbing together and all the heavy petting. “Mmm,” He purred, kissing the back of Lance’s neck, the tarp below them crinkling under his shifting form. “That’s a much better greeting than what you originally gave me.” He trailed his lips along his hair line. “Nothing kills the mood more than talking about your boss.”

“But,” Keith’s voice became serious. “Your commander isn’t wrong. This shop isn’t what it appears to be.” He pushed himself up to his knees, long hair laying in finger tossed waves over his bare chest, while his cover all barely clung to his hips. “Come on.” He stood, clipping the clasps over his shoulders as he did. The shirtless look giving him a ‘farmer’s son’ appeal. “The shop is officially closed for the rest of the day. I’ll show you what we do.”

Lance pouted a little when Keith’s warmth was taken from him, but he slowly got up and looked at the other man. “I don’t understand, but all right.” He felt a little relieved with the knowledge that Keith trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t actually report on anything, but he was still a little unnerved by their conversation. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll understand. First I’m going to clean up.” Keith gave Lance’s still pristine appearance a disapproving pout. “I’ll be about 15 minutes?” Keith kissed his cheek. “I’d ask you to come up, but you don’t look ravaged, and we’d never get out of here if I did.” He teased with a wink, slowly letting go of Lance’s hand after leading him to the hallway then disappearing up the stairs.

Lance was about to protest, but Keith already went up the stairs, so he sat at the bottom of them, rested his hands on his arms, and bowed his head. He stared down at his hands as he waited, sighing a bit at the way they were trembling now that Keith had left him.

Keith came back without a whisper of a sound, dressed in his city clothes of leather pants, loose yukata and simple shirt and vest. The mixture of western style and eastern flare allowing him to blend into the late afternoon crowd and lantern-lit streets. He wrapped his red scarf around his neck allowing it to hang down versus using it for function. 

Crouched behind his lover Keith wrapped his arms around Lance, his fingers gliding down to his hands to fold between the shaking fingers. “It will be okay.” He whispered into his hair as he settled down on the steps behind him, his legs cradling him. 

“No matter what happens. You have me.”

He didn’t mean to jump when Keith came up behind him, but he did. “Keith! I didn’t even hear you!” His eyes were wide, and the trembling of his hands stopped as soon as he was touched. He looked over his shoulder at him. “Will it really? I don’t doubt I have you, but do you really think it will be okay?”

“From here on, I’ll be honest with you. Anything you want to know, anything you ask I’ll tell you the truth as I know it. In exchange you have to trust me.” Keith brought Lance’s hand up to his lips and kissed each knuckle. “No more lies. No more costumes or hiding. You came straight to me and told me something that could risk everything you care about. This is the least I can do.”

“If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have told you.” Lance managed to smile this time, watching Keith kiss his hand like that. “And, honestly, I don’t really mind if you wear that kimono again, you know. It was pretty sexy.” He needed to lighten the mood. Keith was going to show him something important and he couldn’t be moping about.

Keith laughed his eyes sparkling again. “I hadn’t guessed from the way you tossed me out of it.” He jumped up with the aid of the railing and over Lance’s head. He landed with a single spin on the floor in front of him. “Well then, Solider. Shall I take you around and show you what’s worth protecting?” With a gentlemanly bow he offered his hand to Lance. 

“I’ve already seen you naked, so I’ve seen what’s worth protecting.” Lance grinned a little, but he stood and nodded. “Yes, show me.” He took Keith’s hand and held it, squeezing it just slightly in an attempt to calm his own nerves.

Keith gave Lance a sideways look, lips pursing. “That, probably won’t go over well.” He waved his hand down the length of Lance’s body. “Where I’m taking you, solider types aren’t well received. And I know you don’t have any normal clothes and mine won’t fit you. So, we’re gonna stop along the way and get you something that doesn’t stand out.”

“All right.” Lance nodded and gave Keith’s hand another squeeze. What kind of place was he going to take him to if he was going to be so unwelcome? “I was going to ask you to help me with that anyway. They gave me a stipend for it, and I at least need to show that I’m committed to the job, so it’s better to use their money and not mine.”

“Agreed.” Keith smiled and escorted Lance out the side door, locking everything up behind them. “We’ll take a walk. Tell me if anything sticks out.”

“I just need to look like I belong here.” Lance shrugged. “I don’t know much about what I should wear for that, especially since I’m going to look like I don’t belong here no matter what.” He gestured to his own face.

“You are awfully pretty.” Keith leaned up to kiss his chin, a light coming to his eyes. “It’ll be simple. Come on.” Keith lead him down the main street. Carriages and steam bikes pedaled along. Keith cocked his head at one stationary gentleman whose legs were winding up a kinetic turbine as if the devil himself chased him.

They stopped at a particular shop. Textiles hung on wooden racks outside, warming in the afternoon sun. In the windows, cloth mannequins posed like proper English lords drinking tea or playing chess. Keith couldn’t tell if it was an homage or mockery.

Keith stepped into the store, noting the signs in the room had prices written in several different languages. He picked up on Japanese, Chinese, English, and Dutch to name the few he recognized.

“Seems like we picked the right place.” Keith said over his shoulder to Lance. “Do you see anything you like?”

Lance looked around the shop, walking by displays and peering at the different colored fabrics. Most were shades of brown and white, but there was the occasional pop of blue or red. “What do you think? I need to look like someone people would feel comfortable around. Could I pull off fancy British gentleman?” He grinned.

“You’re asking the wrong guy.” Keith arched a brow, leaning with nonchalance against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. A slender finger lifted to point toward the register where an elderly man sat staring Keith down. Beady eyes glared over the rim of frameless glasses.

“Well let me rephrase then. What do you think would look good on me and make me more attractive to you?” Lance glanced at the clerk and offered him a friendly smile, but he kept his body turned towards Keith. “I don’t really care what anyone else thinks.”

A slow sultry curve of Keith’s lips accompanied a swaying gait as Keith walked to Lance. He slipped his hand up his arm, pulling at the fabric’s folds with coy fingers. “Naked always looks good on you. You didn’t let me see it before.” He whispered against his ear. 

“But seeing as that’s not going to help you fit in, I think blue would look fine.” Keith picked out a vest and shirt. They were simple fabrics, inexpensive and mass produced. Keith liked the sky blue hemming on the edge, it sat well with the dark brown and khaki shades which filled the shop.

With Keith’s breath against his ear, Lance shuddered. “See? You’re better at this than I am, though I don’t want anyone but you seeing me naked.” He took the garments and walked over to the clerk so he could be fitted, though he grabbed a pair of matching slacks, too. The blue didn’t particularly look good with the specific shade of brown of his uniform. The old gentleman nodded to a curtained off room, so Lance stepped back there and changed into shirt, vest, and slacks, stepping out and waving Keith over to check him. “Do these look okay?”

“Well I told you my preference.” Keith turned his head from right to left, appraising the young man. “This will work. You look good out of uniform, Solider.” Keith gathered up his clothing, tossing the jacket around himself and flopping Lance’s hat loosely on his own head as he fussed over the new clothes.

“We’ll wear these out.” Keith said is flawless Japanese. “Go ahead and pay the man, we’ll still take a bag for your uniform.”

“Okay.” Lance smiled sheepishly when Keith took and wore his jacket and his hat. His ears reddened, and he had to remind himself they were in public. He stepped up to him, and in the guise of adjusting the jacket a little, he reached into the inside pocket and pulled out a small packet, grinning at Keith as he did so. With a wink, he turned and walked to the clerk, smiling while he paid him. “Thank you.” He murmured, feeling sheepish with his badly accented Japanese. He bowed his head as he took the change and the bag, folding the rest of his uniform neatly and tucking it inside. He walked back to Keith and once again reached into that jacket to put the packet back in the inside pocket. “Shall we?”

“Do you want to put this in there too?” Keith flicked one of the medals over a pocket, the hat slipping down his forehead when he lifted it to see Lance. 

“Oh, sure.” Lance unpinned the medal and tucked it away with the money, leaning in and whispering, “Keep it safe hm?”

Keith’s voice hitched in a chuckle. “Well okay then, but.. this is gonna work a bit better.” Keith shrugged off the jacket and his yukata, a second of thought flashed over his elven face. “Hnm.” He considered Lance one more time before wrapping the garment around him. The dusty brown duster completed the appeal and did away with the store bought stiffness of the outfit. 

Keith slipped the jacket over his arms. Looking smaller than ever without the bulk of the yukata bunching up inside and the sleeves hung past the tips of his fingers. There was no doubt about the jacket being military grade, but Keith supplied an appeal his own. A renegade’s aesthetic. As though stolen from the army base and no one would rat him out for it. The hat supplied a cheeky statement and he didn’t care who saw him. He could never be military. Keith could not be owned. The dark haired man was freedom. The very breath of the mountains and the woods. A pine forest on a winter morning or sun soaked meadow, cut by a babbling brook. Keith wasn’t a tidal force. He didn’t ebb and flow. Combined with unyielding boyish innocents, he was gravity. Compulsion. Desire. The inertia of going against him would snap a lesser man’s neck. 

Lance grinned when Keith wrapped him up in that yukata. He brought his wrist up to his face, letting the scent from the fabric fill his nose. Oil and flowers. “You smell pretty good you know.” He grinned wider and reached up to fix the cap on Keith’s head. He looked way too attractive no matter how he wore it, but at least Lance could try to make him a little less stare-worthy. Of course, he failed, so he just shrugged and grinned again. “And you look good too.”

Keith stared at the grin on Lance’s face, his throat going dry as he tried to find the words for a comeback. A tiny ‘thank you’ forced its way out instead. 

“You look cute in the thing…that…” Keith managed pointing to all of Lance.

Lance shook his head. “Cute huh? All right, I’ll accept that even though I was going for devastatingly handsome.” He chuckled slightly and poked Keith’s shoulder. “So where are you taking my cute self then?”

“I mean more than cute! You’re- I mean…” Keith’s gazed darted about the room, making sure no one was paying attention to them. He rolled up on his toes to kiss Lance’s cheek. Spinning on his heels, he gripped the hat and pulled the visor down over his eyes. “I’ll take you there now.”

Lance kept chuckling and grinning even as he followed Keith out of the shop. “You know, I think you’re the one that’s cute.”

“Shut it.” Keith groaned skipping out the door and back on the street, his hands in the back pockets of his pants. “Guys aren’t cute, pretty, or flowery.” His ears burned. “No guy likes hearing that kind of stuff about them!” He kicked a pebble on the street, avoiding eye contact. Eventually he’d have to admit, when those words came from Lance, the young shop-keep’s stomach swirled and tossed with an excited giddiness. Part of his frustration, no matter how much he denied it, laid in knowing Lance wasn’t fooled by any measure of Keith’s crowing.

“So am I not a guy?” Lance’s grin changed to a pout. “So I should be upset that you called me cute? I’m not allowed to like hearing it?” He knew Keith didn’t mean it, of course. He was just trying to act tough, but he didn’t need to act tough around him. Lance really hoped he understood that. Plus, it would be a problem if Keith actually thought those things, but still used the same words on Lance.

Keith froze. He had called Lance cute. The words slipped out with a natural ease and how hypocritical of him to get pouty. Keith couldn’t be blamed though. Lance’s expression and the way he stood there in his Yukata made Keith’s heart flutter. Then it dawned on him in a breath of a gasp. Lance felt the same way. He wasn’t teasing him to get a rise out of Keith. Lance felt the same overwhelming excitement and stomach fluttering giddiness he did.

“Okay.” Keith bumped Lance’s shoulder. “It’s fine. You can call me whatever you want.” 

“Okay.” Fine huh? So maybe Keith really didn’t like it. He would have to mentally file that one away, he wouldn’t want to upset him any more than he already had. He held the bag with his uniform top and looked at him.

“I’m not used to it.” Keith admitted. He had promised honesty earlier, and he’d deliver. He walked down the street, his eyes straight forward with the afternoon sun keeping the early spring chill at bay. “I’m not used to complements like that. Or any at all. So I get a bit…” Keith chewed his lower lip trying to find the right English word. ‘Anxious’ didn’t seem exactly right.

“It’s okay.” Lance shook his head as they kept walking, though he sighed a bit. “You just got really weird, and I thought maybe I should just remember not to call you cute anymore.”

“No, ” Keith lifted his hand to take Lance’s but stopped, remembering they stood on a public street. “I,” He took a deep breath. “I like it when you compliment me.” He rushed the words out until they sounded like some heavily accented grabbled attempt at human language.

“Do you? So it’s okay if I call you cute?” Lance smiled and poked his arm, laughing slightly at how adorable Keith was when he fumbled his words. “So if you’re weird, if you’re shy, nervous, embarrassed, any of it. I still like you.”

“Good. Because right now? I’m all of those things.” Keith gave Lance a helpless smile, tipping the rim of his hat up with two fingers. 

The pair made a few more turns as the alleyways became constricted and less maintained. “Here we are. Out of sight out of mind, you’ll find the real life blood of a country.” 

Huddled groups of people scattered through the narrow thoroughfare. Men no older than Shiro sat with crooked bones and weathered faces. Women aged by abuses Keith didn’t want to imagine, held their bastard children to their breast. 

Hardship and turmoil were the norm, and starvation had been a frequent bedfellow. Keith walked forward and light filled the derelict eyes of the people. They welcomed him deep bows as children mobbed him, pulling the ends of the military jacket. Keith crouched before them, a tender smile on his lips, as he handed over army sanctioned rations from a satchel into each tiny hand. 

“The ones who need the most protection.”

Lance stood still when Keith walked forward and he looked around. He felt the familiar sting of tears in his eyes, and he bit his lower lip to keep himself quiet. So this was what it was about? The supposed rebellion was just a bunch of the impoverished being taken care of by the “rebels”? How could that be a bad thing? How could he even remotely blame them for this?

He clenched his fists when he noticed Keith giving out some rations and he took a deep breath. So it really was them, and that was why they were on the list. How was he supposed to be able to cover for them? What could he say, or spin, to make this something the Army won’t notice or care about? He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to refocus himself, keeping the emotions from choking him before he opened them again. He tried to ignore the glares from some of the men, but he just stood there and hugged himself a little, waiting for Keith.

Keith whispered soft words to one of the younger men. He didn’t appear as bad off as the others, but he walked with a defined limp and wrapped a friendly arm around Keith.

“Mattokun, kochira wa ore no tomodachi no Ransu desu.” Keith spoke in a louder volume than necessary. The declaration made for any who could hear him and not for the strawberry blond man at his side.

Lance shifted and looked down at his feet, unable to really look at Keith right now. And he was fine with that. He was uncomfortable, but he should have been. This wasn’t a place he should be, but Keith felt the need to bring him here, so at the very least he would try to swallow down his discomfort and stay quiet as Keith spoke. When he heard Keith utter his name, he bowed his head a little, but otherwise remained still and silent.

“Ransu!” A small child giggled “neemu ga hen!” She announced with a proud smile, missing her two front teeth. Keith bonked the girl in the head. His touch gentle and playful as she pulled on Lance’s borrowed yukata, her excited eyes staring up at the foreign man in awe. 

Lance looked down at the child, and he offered her a little smile. “Hello.”

Matt stood by Lance, folding his arms over his chest. “So you’re the army guy that’s got every one’s attention? I’m Matt Holt. I’d tell you to stay away from my sister, but if even a bit of what I hear is true I don’t gotta worry too much.” He sniffed before holding his hand out to Lance. 

“A friend of Keith’s, army or not, is a friend of mine.”

Lance hesitated, offering the child one more smile before he took Matt’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I think?” He blinked a little, but then his brows lifted. “Oh, Pidge hm? I don’t know what you heard about me, but if it came from her, it probably makes me look pretty bad.”

“Nah,” Matt watched Keith play with the local kids. Something about it reminded him of a young cat showing kittens how to pounce. Keith’s stern face doing little to hide good natured eyes. “The fact that she mentioned you at all is impressive. You’re not like made of gears and stuff are you? You seem a bit fleshy to me.”

“No, not that I know if.” Lance looked at Keith, feeling a warmth in his chest as he watched him play with the kids. “There seem to be a lot of people here.” He spoke quietly and hugged himself again, shifting from one foot to the other. “How many children?”

“Twenty-five at last count. Leftovers from the abolished classes. Decedents of samurai families and merchant lords. Better left forgotten in the era.” Matt shrugged a shoulder. “Shiro’s personal mission. We just all kinda involved ourselves and it outgrew us ya know? Shiro’s never been good at ignoring children. As for Keith? Well I think the answers pretty obvious.”

Lance’s lips pursed a little, though he wasn’t sure if it was because he was displeased with the situation or because, of course, this had to do with Shiro. “And they all live here?” His eyes remained locked on Keith. “Outside?”

“Outside? Hm. Pidge and I constructed insulated houses from the crates we stole. You army guys use some pretty high tech stuff to transport your dried goods.” Matt’s grin was unapologetic. A distant laugh broke the conversation, and he straightened his back. “Well I’ll be damned.” Hazel eyes focused on the Korean man as he wrestled his way from the kids. “And now I’ve seen everything.”

“So they have shelter at least?” Lance’s hardened expression softened when Keith laughed. Despite the pleasant feeling that washed through him at that sound, his shoulders slumped. “And the clothing was good, but those kids are too small for them hm? They need blankets?”

“Always. We’d never turn that stuff down. The clothing? Shiro managed to rework it. He’s got a talent for that type of thing. His father taught him how to make kimonos, but his mom made sure he knew some practical stuff too.”

Keith struggled his way back to the men, hopping over one more child who darted out in front of him. He tucked his loose hair up inside Lance’s hat before putting it back on his head in a failed attempt to regain his composure. A couple of ringlets falling to frame his face. “Damn, they are getting stronger. The medicine we brought around, worked then?”

“Boy did it!” Matt exclaimed. “Though I got a few requests for flavors other than ‘yuck’.” 

Lance shifted and rubbed his upper arm a bit as he watched the conversation. There was a twinge of something in his stomach, but he just smiled through it and kept his eyes on Keith. It wouldn’t do either of them any good for him to dwell on it here.

Keith took one more glance at the group before nudging Lance’s arm. “Come on. Let’s head back. The sun’s gonna set soon and we got a lot to talk about yet.” He nodded his head toward Matt who took his cue and stepped back to the kids.

“Okay.” Lance bowed his head to Matt and followed Keith back to the shop, remaining silent for the walk back as he tried to process what he just saw. It was a lot, maybe too much for him today, especially after his meeting with his boss. But his brain was working. There had to be something he could do to solve his own problem without causing any more for Keith.

“There’s one more thing I want to show you.” Keith’s voice pressed through the heavy air, low and soft as they came through the side door and up the stairs. The shop still sitting as empty as they left it. 

“I wanted to show you that place before I did this. Since I promised. I know I won’t be good at it right away, but I’ll go through each of these little ‘quirks’ as they come to mind.” Keith stopped at his wardrobe, wrestled with something in a series of metallic clicks and sat down on his bed with a gunny sack on his lap. “Here. This is what’s left over from the payments to Keiko. At least what the okiya didn’t take.”

Lance stood in front of him and looked down at him, blinking a little. “What’s left…?” His brows furrowed. “Did you think I was going to ask for it back once I found everything out?” He sighed. “Isn’t that for your bike?” But he knew Keith didn’t use it for that. And he knew medicine was too expensive for him to just supply to those people. So logically, that was it. He just didn’t know what to say. What could he say? He wasn’t angry or upset, or anything like that, but he was just at a loss right now.

Keith bowed his head. “Originally it was for my bike, and I’m not a saint, some of it was used for it.” He plucked at the old gunny sacks frayed seams. “I’ll pay you back the rest. Since all of it was a lie. I wasn’t what you thought you were buying. I shouldn’t have taken it in the first place.” Guilt weighed his shoulders down, slumping the oversized jacket to settle over his arms.

“I don’t want you to pay me back, Keith.” Lance lifted Keith’s chin and looked down at him. “I just…I guess I just feel like you would never have told me anything if we didn’t become lovers. When we were just friends, there was so much going on that I didn’t know. If you had told me you needed money for medicine, I would have happily given it to you.” He dropped his hand from Keith’s chin and shook his head slightly. “I don’t want it back.”

“You thought I was Keiko.” Keith kept his head where Lance guided him. “Why would she need money for anything like that? And how could I have ever have asked as myself?”

“You could have asked, you know. We were friends right? Maybe it’s irrational to think you could have, but…” Lance bowed his head. “Never mind.”

Keith ducked his head as Lance lowered his forcing the other to continue looking at him. “I don’t want to ‘never mind. What is it?” His touched his hand upon Lance’s knee. “What more can I tell you?” He leaned toward him, resting his forehead against Lance’s stomach. The press of their bodies knocking the hat from atop Keith’s head, causing an avalanche of inked silk.

“I’m jealous.” Lance closed his eyes. He would be in trouble if he kept looking down at Keith’s head when it was against him like that, especially with where it was.

“Jealous?” Keith looped his arms around Lance’s waist and lifted his face up to him, his chin pressing just above his navel. “Why? What did I do to make you feel that way? How can I fix it?” His brows furrowed, lost and searching.

“There’s just a lot I’m not a part of, and that I don’t know about, and it feels lonely, I guess. You know everything about me, but I don’t really know much about you.” Lance looked down at him, a little uncomfortable because he hated feeling like this. “So many people love you…”

“Love me?” Keith blinked as he sat straight on the bed, his arms sliding back down his lap. “I have people I care about. People who care about me. The shop. Pidge. Sam. Shiro. Matt I guess. But it’s not what you think.” He hugged himself around his waist.

“I don’t walk into a room and people throw themselves at me. I grew up with Pidge and Matt. They taught me English. Sam taught me how to draw. Shiro obligated himself to me even though he had every right to throw me away.” Keith’s voice came out stretched as through come from a place miles away.

Lance shook his head. “I didn’t mean sexual love.” He reached down so he could play with his hair. “I don’t believe for a second that you would be thrown away by anyone. How could you even think that?”

“I killed his father.”

“Killed? On purpose? You’re not exactly the murdering type, Keith. I’m sure whatever happened was an accident.” 

“I started a fire. It got out of control.” Keith’s eyes fluttered shut even as his lower lip trembled. “He dove in and picked me up, tossing me out of flames, but he was trapped. Shiro tried to save him, the burns were so bad he lost his arm. He was just a kid. Barely a teenager, and I put him through hell.”

Lance shook his head and continued to stroke his hair. “That’s an accident. That’s not your fault, and it’s obvious no one thinks it’s your fault except you.” He sighed softly and looked down at him. How long had he been holding onto that? 

“Lance.” If everyone loved Keith has much as Lance proclaimed, it should not have been possible for such lonely eyes to meet Lance’s. Years of guilt. Years of whispered prejudice. Years of outright hate. Years of cold painful lonely repression. All of it reflected back at Lance and there, underneath the silent confident boy, buried in amethyst depths, laid an wanted child, taken from the only home he ever knew and brought to a strange world where everyone sneered at a boy too innocent to understand he had done nothing wrong. He wanted to be held. He wanted to the warmth of another person. He wanted to hear the whispered hum of a mother’s lullaby. Keith knew one, it lingered on the edge of his memory, a chime in the fog. He wanted so much, but never deserved to ask for anything. 

Lance shook his head and sat on the bed next to him, pulling him into his lap so he could hold him, his forehead resting against Keith’s. “It’s not your fault.” One hand held him steady while the other rubbed his back. He never wanted to see Keith look at him with such a hurt expression, and now he was sure he would never get those sad eyes out of his head. “There’s no way you did anything wrong.”

“How do you know that?” Keith’s voice was a strained shadow of sound forced out of his throat, past the growing lump of emotions waiting to be released.

“Because I do.” Lance whispered and closed his eyes as he held him closer. “Because you were a kid, and there’s no way you intended for anyone to get hurt. An accident is just that. You aren’t at fault.” He nuzzled his lips into his hair. 

“But if I hadn’t been here…” Keith let the comment hang in the air and took his first shaking breath. He’d never vocalized any of this before. It felt raw. Painful. Bordering on self-serving. He didn’t know what he was expecting Lance to do. Hate him. Love him. Listen. Dote. Leave. 

“I shouldn’t unload on you.” Keith started to push away. “It’s not fair to you.”

“Why? Isn’t that one of the benefits of having a lover? To unload and express feelings and not be judged for it?” Lance lifted a hand to Keith’s cheek, his other hand remaining on his back to keep him from pulling away from him. “You’ve listened to me talk about things that were painful, and you supported me, and you still liked me after all of it. Why don’t you deserve the same? So tell me. Unload. Cry. Hit my chest. Whatever you need to get the feelings out so you’re not thinking such horrible things about yourself.” He brushed his thumb over Keith’s lower lip. “If you hadn’t been here, if you weren’t ever here, who would love me? Who would I love? I need you, Kitten. And meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Keith’s breath shuddered and his lip quivered. Lance’s touch was intimate, and combined with the nickname, it sent an orchestra of sensations through his body. Each tingle, a ghost of where Lance’s fingers had been, a memory of hot traveling lips over virginal pale flesh. “Loving you is easy. It’s like asking me how to breathe or how my heart beats.”

“Then you should understand how I feel about you.” Lance brushed Keith’s lip again, but this time he moved his thumb away after and replaced it with his own lips, the kiss gentle and loving.

“I don’t know how tha-” Keith’s complaint died before it could be given life and birthed into a mewl of soft pleasure. His mouth opening to Lance.

Lance kissed Keith again and again. He wanted him to know he was loved. He wanted him to feel better about himself, and if Lance’s words wouldn’t do it, he would just need to put his feelings into action.

“You’re getting good at shutting me up.” Keith’s lips moved against the corner of Lance’s mouth, his fingers dusting the edge of his jaw.

“I don’t want to shut you up. I want to prove that I love you. I want you to see how important you are to me. How much I value and need you.” Lance’s eyes locked into Keith’s. “Will you let me show you all that?”

“I’ll never say no to you.” Keith laid back on the bed, shifting his waist to lay horizontally, his arms laying in limp beside his head.

Lance moved and leaned over him. “I want to make love to you.”

Keith’s ears pinked at the formal request. Lance didn’t have to ask. He could have done it, and Keith would have been happy to do anything he wanted. And Keith knew it would have been part of the problem. Lance was trying to prove Keith had value and was worthy of someone loving him. Lance wanted him to know he mattered has a person. In the back of Keith’s mind he understood, but being in a relationship did strange things to one’s perspective. Keith had never been so weak and so vulnerable as he was under Lance’s gaze. 

The sea blue orbs mesmerized the young man and pulled everything out of him. They callously tore through defenses he spent years building and reinforcing, like so many pieces of rice paper. Keith wondered why he bothered trying. 

“All right.” Keith knew what he was giving Lance permission for. The bronze skinned man had told as much. 

“And do you want that?” Lance moved them both so the other man was laying completely on the bed, and he was practically laying on top of him. He needed Keith to voice it. “Do you want to feel my love?”

“It’s embarrassing to hear you talk like that!” Keith covered his face with his hands. “Y-yes…” He whimpered into the palm. “I want to.” He would kick his ass later if only because he was sure Lance got a kick out of getting Keith flustered.

“Isn’t it better to be embarrassed and blushing than sad?” Lance leaned down and kissed Keith’s hands, nuzzling them so he would stop covering his face. “I will make sure you feel loved.”

“Okay! Okay! I feel it. I feel loved.” Keith’s fingers spread so he could see Lance through them and the other man’s expression put a stop of Keith’s protest. Lance was being serious, and Keith responded like an immature child who couldn’t handle even a speck of real emotion when offered. He swallowed hard, his brows furrowed. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know he was apologizing for, but he dropped his hands from his face, letting Lance see the delicate rose flush below his eyes and the nervous nibbling on his lips.

“I… I love you.” Keith chirped back in a cracking voice. “I mean it. I do.” 

“I know you do, Kitten. I know you love me.” Relief washed over Lance’s face when Keith looked at him again. He really wanted to make sure Keith knew his feelings, and the only way he would believe him was if he looked at him. Now that he was, Lance took those hands and kissed them once more. “And you don’t need to apologize to me, just don’t hide from me. Let me see you, even if you’re embarrassed.” 

“How do you know?” Keith’s hands trembled. He felt more exposed than before, he wanted to shrink away and hide but he steeled his will and met Lance’s eyes straight on with his own.

“That you love me? You blush and look at me whenever you think I’m not looking.” Lance murmured before he pressed his lips to Keith’s and reached down to start unbuttoning that jacket.

“T-hat’s it?” Keith kissed Lance back, acutely aware of each buttoned he popped on the borrowed jacket.

“And you’ve told me. And your kisses feel like you do.” Lance kissed him again as he unbuttoned the last of the buttons, sliding his hand up Keith’s chest before he pushed the heavy fabric open.

“You can have all my kisses.” Keith replied with such sincerity the sappiness of the words had not dawned on him. He kissed Lance’s lips, his chin then a long his jaw. “Should we shower first? I was in the shop all morning, and then we walked around.” 

“I suppose that would be a good idea.” Lance kissed Keith back before he slowly pulled off him, holding his hands out to him to help him up. “Then you can start giving me all your kisses.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Culture Notes:  
> Public displays of affection are not generally okay in Japan. It's completely improper to do much more than hold hands with your lover in public areas and even that can be frowned upon. The culture is very reserved in these aspects and believe affection between partners is meant for private life. This is why Keith feels like his face is going to explode every time Lance is vocal about their relationship around others and why he can't bring himself to hold his hand in public, and being of the same sex complicates this issue even more.
> 
> Translation Notes:  
> Mattokun, kochira wa ore no tomodachi no Ransu desu = Matt, this is my friend Lance - Keith was proclaiming who Lance was to everyone but Matt so everyone new and understood Lance was an okay guy. lol
> 
> Neemu ga hen! - Your name is weird! - Little girl says this because to her it very much is a strange sounding name.
> 
> Side note: "L" sounds in Japanese are very difficult to say and are often done to the sound of a 'tapping' R. Meaning the tongue taps against the back of the teeth while making a Ra, Re, (and so forth) sound. So Lance's name said by a Japanese speaker would sound like Ransu. Another cute note that I'm sure many of you are aware of ... Keith's name, since the 'th' sound does not exist in Japanese would sound like Kisu. The same way Japanese playfully say the English word 'kiss'.


	9. Saboten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ EXPLICIT CHAPTER~~~** (What can we say? It's the honey moon period) - A Narrative Summary will be provided in chapter 10 for those who did not wish to read content.
> 
>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Cactus Flower** _Saboten サボテン_ \- Lust/Sex 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

Keith switched positions on the bed for the fifth time in as many minutes. “Argh!” His hands threw themselves over his face, and he kicked his feet out. Getting ready and knowing Lance wanted to have sex did not make anything easier. Lance wanted to prove his dedication and love. Keith wanted to prove he trusted Lance and returned his sincere feelings. Knowing the facts did little to take away the awkwardness of the moment. When Keith came out of the shower and switched places with the dark skinned man, he had said something lame like “Tag. You’re it.” So now he sat tossing around on the red flannel sheets, trying to figure out how he should greet Lance when he finished showering. 

Kicking off the bed with a grunt, Keith walked over to the window. He stared into the newly born night. The glow of Kyoto calming his nerves as it tended to do. The grid aligned streets, low framed houses, and moon-bathed temples and shrines slowed his erratic mind. He was thinking too hard. He had been focused on what Lance would hate and not what he’d love. 

Keith’s eyes lit up, and he dashed to his wardrobe. In a whirl of color and twisting fabric he discarded his robe and draped the kimono around his shoulders. He kept it open and loose. Lacking the layers of silk and cotton, the kimono alone had a flow and ease of movement it didn’t possess before. Every move of his arm became a graceful sweep of silk, and every shift of his hips had a delicate whisper of soft fabric.

Keith tied the kimono shut at his waist and he left his hair to hang down. He opened the collar to spread wide over his shoulders, making sure his tattoo remained exposed. Most of the lamps had dimmed to an ember, and he sat himself in the silver blue light of the Kyoto moon with a bare thigh peeking through the bottom slit of the custom made kimono.

Lance rested his arm against the shower wall, his forehead against it as he muttered soft curses to himself. Was he pushing this too fast? They had only been together for a few days, but Lance was sure he loved Keith. He felt it throughout his whole body. His arm ached when Keith wasn’t around. His heart longed for him when he was even just across the room. And even now, it pounded loudly in his chest as the water washed over his back. He could feel the rock in the pit of his stomach roll around. He had never done this before. What if he messed it up? What if Keith decided it wasn’t what he wanted?

He pushed that aside as he turned the water off and took a few deep breaths. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off, not caring that his hair ended up sticking out every which way. It wouldn’t matter soon anyway. He wrapped that towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door. When he looked up at Keith, everything seemed to stop. His heart. His breath. Time. All of it. 

Of course, that didn’t make sense because seeing Keith bathed in moonlight, wearing just that kimono that he said he bought for Lance caused all sorts of blood to heat up his body. His cheeks, his ears, his sex. He clutched at the towel to keep it from falling around his waist as he stared at the vision of beauty in front of him. “Keith,” he managed, though his voice trembled, “you’re amazing.”

“I wanted to do something you’d like.” Keith tried to make it sound effortless, as if he’d hadn’t been flopping around seconds earlier. However, despite the reverent glow of moonlight, despite the elegance of dark blue silk over snow-white flesh, his fingers twitched anxiously around the hem of the sleeves, pulling at strings and seams, or anything he could get them on. When he drifted his long lashed gaze up at Lance he froze. Before him, staring with hunger in his eyes, Lance stood transfixed. Coffee and cream skin lined by rivets of dripping water. It was enough to make Keith’s throat dry. He wanted to taste it. To lick at each droplet until his thirst quenched, and Keith whimpered his desperation. 

“I definitely like.” Lance stood at the door of the bathroom for a moment, fidgeting before he took steps towards the bed. He said nothing as he leaned over Keith and kissed him. He couldn’t wait anymore. He needed to feel those lips on his, that porcelain skin under his fingers. And so he lifted his hands to Keith’s cheeks.

“Lance I-Mmph.” Keith sighed into those warm lips, his eyes fluttering shut. He lifted his fingers with only a spare amount of hesitation before resting them against Lance’s hips, dipping them into the edge of the towel to touch flesh still hidden from him.

Lance kept kissing him, but he let out a muffled groan when he felt Keith’s touch come to his hips. He kissed him as much as the other man would allow, laying him back on the bed so he could climb over him and keep him close.

As Lance pressed Keith into the bed, the older man’s thoughts became filled with the softness of Lance’s lips, the smell of his freshly washed skin, and the hard coiled muscle jumping and twitching under his tongue. Combined with the heady mix of Keith’s soaps and Lance’s scent, the merger of all his senses on this one being became an intoxicating perfume of ocean breezes and inland forest. So overwhelmed, Keith couldn’t hear the purr like growl leave his throat.

“Damn.” Lance groaned before he took Keith’s lips again, his hand sliding down over his chest to push the kimono open even more. Did Keith know just how much he was driving Lance crazy? Did he know that each subtle touch was enough to send heat all through his body? He was about to go crazy from the sensation of all of it.

“Something wrong?” Keith captured Lance’s gaze before his eyes drifted down to the dark velvet hand as it moved against the pinking flesh of his stomach and chest. Roused peaks relaying his growing excitement as blood rushed and darkened the sensitive parts of his body before pooling into embers in his gut. Each touch or subtle upset of his flesh sent sparks and tongues of fire between his legs.

“No. No nothing at all. Nothing wrong.” Lance rested his hand on Keith’s stomach and leaned in again, kissing him once more. “Everything is right, actually. I’ve never felt so warm. And you’re making me feel this way. It’s like being burned and comforted at the same time, and I like it.”

“Seeing something different than you have before?” Keith tilted up to Lance as his arms came around hips, where he massaged his fingers into the small of Lance’s toned back.

“Yes and no.” Lance groaned a little and pressed his body closer. “Your body is the same, but now I know what’s going to happen, and it’s just…wow.” His eyes darkened as he pressed himself against Keith’s thigh, even though his towel and the kimono were still between them. For now, he could hold back, but if either cloth was removed, he would definitely lose it.

Keith lips twitched then curled up, slow and sensual. Seeing the way he affected Lance ignited a litany of primal urges the whole of society taught him to ignore. The desires to own or to ravage or to submit were petty shadows cast by the fire Lance burned inside of him. Keith loved him. He loved everything Lance did to him. Keith loved everything he could do to Lance. The way his eyebrow quirked when Keith dragged his finger up his spine, the way his eyes darkened with the smallest movement of his thigh. The way the low whisper of Keith’s voice caused a droplet of sweat to bead up in the crook of Lance’s neck. 

“Tell me what’s going to happen.” With the tip of his tongue Keith tasted the drop, then drew a line up to the edge of Lance’s sharp jaw.

“Nnnn.” Lance couldn’t keep the moan back when Keith’s fingers moved over his skin and his tongue licked his neck and jaw. It sent jolts of electricity through his body, and his hips shifted to press himself against Keith even more. And for a moment, he both thanked and cursed the towel and the kimono between them. But after a moment, he moved his own hands, pushing that kimono open completely as his eyes traveled down the newly exposed skin. Keith’s flesh was like a canvas, and he wanted to mark it with kisses and bites, but he would refrain for now. “I’m going to love you,” he whispered. “After I take this off you, of course.”

“You already love me.” Keith stroked his fingers down the flanks of Lance’s sides, swallowing his breath as Lance devoured him with his eyes. The thrill enticed him as much as it terrified him. “Tell me more.” He whispered as he arched his neck over the back the pillow, exposing the pale slope, blotched pink and red by the fevered flush of his arousal.

Lance leaned down and licked along the column of Keith’s exposed neck, his tongue sliding along his jaw once he reached it, and stopping at his ear. “More?” He whispered, taking that lobe between his teeth and tugging gently. His fingers slid up Keith’s chest to his shoulders, so he could pull the kimono down and get it off him entirely. “Well, as long as you know I love you, I’d rather show you more instead of just tell you.” He looked down at the other man and let his expression soften. This was more than he ever could have hoped for, and here they were, about to connect, not only with their bodies, but also with their hearts. 

“A-ah!” The sound escaping Keith’s mouth at the tug of his ear sent an instant burn from his cheeks down his stomach. He never knew he could make such a lewd noise. It was somewhere between a moan and squeak but lower in pitch. He bit down on his lip to silence them if any more dared to sneak their way out. 

“No, Keith. Let me hear you.” Lance licked the lobe he just bit, his voice still soft. After another lick, he sat up so he could see Keith’s reaction. He shuddered a little at the sight of the Korean man. The way his hips shifted even though Lance was barely touching him added a little spike to the whole thing. Flushed but pale, like the sun stretching across the beach on a warm summer’s morning. Lance moved enough to pull the kimono out from under Keith, gently setting it off the bed so they didn’t make a mess of it. And as he turned back to his lover, he rested his hands on his thighs, slowly sliding his hands up to his hips as he leaned down to kiss him. “Does this feel good, too?”

Keith nodded his head, another of those sounds parting his lips as thighs opened to Lance’s gentle urging. The hands on his thighs burned, adding to the fire building inside him. He lifted his hips to Lance’s guiding touch until his back lifted with a tantalizing bow from the bed. “Ii…” Keith whimpered the soft Japanese word before catching it on his tongue. “Yes. It feels good.” 

Lance’s fingers drummed a little against Keith’s hips as he lifted them from the bed. Of course, that meant his kiss, which was intended for Keith’s lips, now brushed his jaw at the way the pale body below him arched “Just to be sure you keep feeling good…” Another kiss, this time along his collarbone as Lance slid off the bed and slipped into the bathroom only to return moments later with a little jar of medicinal salve Keith had in the cabinet. It might not have been an ideal lubricant, but it was better than the soaps in the shower. As he walked back towards the bed, he let his towel fall off, so by the time he leaned over Keith again, he was completely naked. “Now we’re even.” 

“Lucky me.” A low purring came once more from the back of Keith’s throat as Lance’s dark body settled over him. He wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck to bring him back down for more kisses, but he stopped when he saw the salve, his brow furrowing. “What’s that for? I’m not hurt.” Not long-ago books about homosexuality had been banned throughout Japan, and while the ban and corresponding laws had been lifted after a feeble decade, ten years was more than enough time to limit resources for the confused teenager Keith had been.

“Well, it’s so it moves better, otherwise it might be too painful.” Lance kissed Keith and licked at his lower lip. “I don’t want to hurt you any more than is inevitable for the first time, so I need to make sure it’s as good as possible, right? Like greasing a piston so it doesn’t get stuck.” He grinned slightly as the analogy before he opened the salve and dipped his finger into it. “Are you ready?”

“Like… a… piston?” Keith’s cocked to the side, and Lance could see the mechanics working through his brain and his cheeks got a little pinker the longer he thought about it. “Ye-yeah. That wouldn’t be good. Wait. It can get stuck?” His eyes became impossibly wide. “Has that happened?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t think so? I just didn’t know how to explain it.” Lance shook his head as he lowered his hand, the other nudging Keith’s hips to urge him to lift them a little now that he settled again. “But would you want to risk that?”

Keith replied with a saucer eyed slow shake of his head. 

“Me neither.” Lance nudged again. “Lift a little more so I can do this?”

“S-sorry.” Keith couldn’t look away as he raised his hips again, the muscles in his stomach flexing and showing at greater prominence. He held his hands against the small of his back to hold himself up to the other man. “L-like this?” 

Lance rested his hand on Keith’s stomach and helped him lower himself so he was the right distance from the bed. “You don’t need to do it this high” He whispered before he slid his hand underneath him. “I’m sorry if this isn’t a good feeling.” He looked down at Keith as he carefully inched a salve-coated finger into him. 

Keith flinched, his breath held. The intrusion of Lance’s finger didn’t hurt, but it felt strange. He knew to relax his body as the tiny logical voice in the back of his head gave him commands. Along with it came the words ‘breathe’ ‘relax’ ‘it’s Lance’. He repeated them over and over again until he abided them and a shaky exhale came from teeth imprinted lips. “Nggn. It doesn’t hurt. It’s different.”

“If it wasn’t different, I’d be worried I wasn’t the one for you.” Lance whispered as he started to move the digit, watching Keith’s face as he did for any sign of displeasure. “Just look at me if you need to. Focus on whatever you need to focus on.”

“You…” Keith gasped, his eyes widening. He knew Lance had long slender fingers but the place he reached had a direct cord of instant pleasure in his body. His leg bent up in reflex to the sensation. “Ah!”

“Ooooh.” Lance couldn’t keep the grin off his face as Keith’s body reacted to him like that. He moved his finger like that for several moments before he added a second one in an attempt to make this just a little easier on his lover.

“Nng…” Keith tightened and squirmed on Lance’s fingers, his body adapting quicker than he believed it could. The sensation felt good. Lance touching the most intimate and secret parts of him started a constant soft mewl of pleasure, increasing in pitch with the introduction of another long digit. Every push and stretch stoking the flame inside. “L-lance..” He whimpered is lover’s name with a lick of his lips. “I feel weird… am I supposed to feel weird?”

“I think so, but I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.” Lance watched each shift of Keith’s body. He watched the way his hips slowly started to move in response to his fingers, and he smirked a bit at the thought that Keith seemed to be made just for him. There was something so primal about the way he felt, wanting to take Keith and bring him over the precipice of pleasure over and over again. “I’m going to take them out now, since you seem to be doing as well as you can be in this situation.”

Keith whimpered when the fingers where taken away. Lance brought up to a peak. His body on fire, the flames rolling his hips trying to replace the emptiness. 

“Lance…” The young man didn’t even recognize the sound of his voice as velvet honey dripped from his lips. “Please.”

Lance groaned a little, the tone of Keith’s voice was just too enticing. He rested his hands on the other man’s hips and lifted them enough so he could line up properly, shifting his grip to one hand so he could hold himself steady enough to guide himself in. “Are you ready for me, kitten?”

Keith’s hands wrapped around Lance’s wrists. “Yeah.” He nodded his head, taking a deep swallow and letting out a slow anxious breath. They were doing this, and the reality of it made Keith tremble. He didn’t have as much to lose or gain as a woman in this situation, but metaphorically and emotionally he was about to give everything he was to Lance. He’d be vulnerable and it would hurt. Logic and a simple understanding of anatomy told him that, but he wanted this. “I’m ready.” 

“Okay.” Lance smiled at Keith, trying to reassure him, but he knew despite how clumsy or painful this might be, this was something they both needed right now. Lance needed to love Keith, and Keith needed Lance to love him. He leaned down and kissed the other man, a simple pressing of their lips as he carefully pushed himself into him, pulling his hand back from around his own heat so he could hold Keith’s hips steady. His lips parted against the smaller man’s and he let out a sharp breath. Nothing ever felt like this before. It was tight. It was hot. And for a moment the way Keith clamped down on him was a little painful, but it was Keith, and that was what mattered.

Keith hissed into Lance’s mouth, his eyes wide then softening, closing part way with pearls of tears edging the corner of his eyes. Tension holding his body taut started to melt, unable to withstand the growing heat.

Pain, searing and sharp, flashed into his mind for only a second and Lance rested motionless inside of him. He could feel him inside. Engorged and hot, strained beyond Lance’s limits. Every quiver of Keith’s body, every shift of his legs, and beat of his heart, passed through the narrow cavern inside him, making Keith more and more aware of where their bodies connected. A broken whisper came from kiss bruised lips. 

“L-a-n-ce.” 

“Are you okay?” Lance managed through shaky breaths, moaning a bit. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he concentrated on holding himself steady no matter how much his hips wanted to move on their own. “Can…Can I move now?” He could feel Keith’s warmth around him, and soon it would be too much for him to hold back. “Nnn.”

“Y-yes.” Keith arched his back, his arms gripping around Lance’s back. He wasn’t trying to urge him on. He wasn’t trying to imitate pornographic stories he heard men whisper in the bath house. It was natural. He wanted to curl up. He wanted to wrap around his lover, he wanted to hold him. The feeling of Lance’s sex pushing inside of him, about to thrust, had pulled on every tendon in his body in sharp electric shocks, and like a marionette on a string, he heeded to the primordial puppetry. 

With an almost primal moan, Lance began to move his hips. This was new, exciting, and terrifying all at once. He kept his hands on Keith’s hips to hold his lover’s body steady. Each slow movement of his own hips making him want to just go at it, and if he didn’t want to show Keith how much he meant to him, he probably would have let his body take over. But Keith didn’t need that. Not for their first time. And though Lance was inexperienced, he managed to set himself a decently slow pace, though the pleasure building in him was almost too much for him to handle. It was when those flashes came over him that he momentarily lost control of himself, but when they subsided, he looked down at Keith with tears in his eyes. “Sorry.”

Keith clung to him, fingers digging into Lance’s back as the taller man lost himself. When those rapid thrusts rocked his body, he bowed back dragging his nails across the planes of Lance’s shoulder blades. A cry leaving his pleasure muted lips when Lance emptied into him, making Keith his. 

Keith’s whimper bordered between a plea and wan fulfillment. His own hips quaking with inexperienced jerks as the fire inside combusted into a white hot inferno of pain and indescribable pleasure. He came between their bodies, unable to hold out against Lance’s claim on him. Empty and satiated, Keith fell limp to the bed.

“W-why are you sorry?” He managed on the tail end of an quivering aftershock.

He couldn’t answer the question, since the feel of Keith’s warm pleasure against his skin made Lance moan, his eyes dark as he looked down at his lover. “Keith...” He managed before he tried to kiss him, even if they both still needed to catch their breath and could barely maintain it for long enough to be more than mashing of their lips. But he tried, and as Keith stopped twitching around him, his hips began to move again, this time slower. Maybe he wouldn’t last long again, but he would try to give Keith his love. He would try to make it feel even better now that the initial shock of losing himself inside him wore off.

Unable to breathe, Keith gasped into the crush of Lance’s kiss. He had finally entered a calm afterglow. His toes uncurling, tension leaving his ridged muscles until Lance moved again. 

“I! Ah!” Keith’s back arched over pillows, impaling his body on Lance’s length. He cried louder, the depths his lover drove into him shallowing their previous connection. Keith’s sensitivity doubled and tripled with each agonizing push until the sounds leaving him reduced to constant shattered utterances of pleas and throaty whispers of affection.

Lance clutched at Keith’s hips, gripping enough to keep him moving, but not so hard that he’d bruise. “Keith!” He could barely get the syllable out between the moans and whimpers. And as he looked down at Keith, his eyes were dark, and they shone with a feeling he didn’t know how to properly express, so he kept moving and kept hoping that Keith could feel it. 

Keith closed his knees, cradling the slender man between them. In the distance he heard the new faced English clock tower chime the hour. Lanterns from out his window caught themselves in the wind and their lights played upon his walls. Dancing between sketches of rockets and flying machines, they highlighted the remnants of boyish dreams and aspirations.

“Lance!” Keith called out, his voice hoarse to his ears from the unacquainted use. He arched his chest up and pushed his fingers into the fringes of Lance’s hair as he kissed and mouthed over the slope of his neck. His teeth biting down in sharp nips which accented the spikes of pleasure.

“I—it’s going to happen again.” Lance moaned, his head tilting to allow Keith to lavish his attention to his neck, groaning at the slight pain that blended with the pleasure. He knew it was because they were both new to this. And he knew his body just couldn’t handle the tight warmth that was clenching him. But he tried. He tried to slow his hips again. He tried to make his thrusts more about their feelings and less about primal urges. But with another push of his hips, he came for the second time, crying out Keith’s name.

Keith wrapped his legs around Lance, crossing them at his calves to pull him in. He needed him deeper, hotter. He had to have Lance at his core taking away the last vestments of his innocence and replacing it with something far more potent and indestructible. Lance loved him. Lance desired him. Lance needed to be everything to Keith. He came with a cry of his name.

In the span of a small eternity, Keith remained frozen in a lust fulfilled arch. With slow luscious movements he settled back on the bed. His hands sliding off Lance’s shoulders, down his own chest and hips as he writhed through the last of the aftershocks. 

“ Nmmn,” Keith started to purr. “I love you.” The words came at the tenor of a breath.

When Lance’s body started to relax, and a little bit of fatigue started to settle in, he opened his eyes after clenching them shut, and he looked down at Keith. A second time. They solidified their feelings for each other twice. And he knew they should at least rest, or hold each other, or something. But Lance couldn’t bring himself to move, and he didn’t want Keith to let go of him or pull his legs away from him. He just wanted to watch Keith’s body move like a pleased cat, drowning in the feeling of the warmth Lance just gave him. “I love you, too,” he whispered after he caught his breath. “More than anything.”

“Mn,” Keith murmured some unintelligible words and wriggled his hips with Lance still buried inside. With a careful shift, he opened his legs and spread them out on the bed, freeing Lance from his sweat and sex dampened body. “I can feel you.”

Lance moaned and felt the arousal surge through him again with the wiggle of Keith’s hips, but a third time would have been too much, so he slowly pulled himself back and out of Keith. “Oh, yeah.” He murmured and rolled to the side so Keith could get up if he wanted to.

The dark haired man didn’t move. He laid there, sex flushed and dirtied with the evidence of his own pleasure and feeling Lance’s inside him. Something about that seemed a bit unfair. He was a mess while Lance got to just roll over. Keith growled a little in his throat and lowered his lips down to his ear, “If you really want to show me how much you love me, you’ll help me clean up. I want a shower.”

Lance turned his head to look at him, his lower lip sticking out a bit. “I never said I wouldn’t help you.” He looked at Keith and puffed his cheeks out just a bit. “I just didn’t think you’d want to get up so quickly after. But…” He sat up and slid off the bed. “If that’s what you want“ He trailed off. He had Keith’s mess on his stomach too, but he supposed having the evidence of Lance’s love inside of him was probably uncomfortable.

Keith stood up, his leg buckling and pitching himself forward into Lance. His cheek landing against his shoulder as he gripped Lance’s arm for balance. 

“I’m sorry.” Keith steadied himself, knees still shaking. “If I laid down, I’d have fallen asleep.” He squirmed, his eyes widening. An impossibly dark blush over his faces as he tried to hide his hips behind Lance. The sudden wetness of Lance’s claim on him staining his thighs. He lifted his chin to Lance, violet eyes flashing helplessly.

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Lance’s voice was soft as he caught Keith and helped him to the bathroom, trying his best not to be pulled in by those eyes. “I would have just held you.”

“Yeah, but can...” Keith lowered his voice to a whisper as if some else could have been in the room besides the two of them. “That stay in there?” He flicked his eyes up at Lance’s face then back down where he crossed his toes over each other trying to distract himself from the sticky sensation as Lance turned the shower on.

“I don’t know.” Lance had his back to him now as he fiddled with the shower, trying to get the water to a good temperature. “Does it feel bad?” Did he want to know if it did?

“No.” Keith replied. “It-it felt good. You make some pretty sexy faces.” His voice hesitated as he spoke. It dawned on him like an hour glass filling up. Keith had not vocalized anything about his feelings in the aftermath. In an instant he placed himself in Lance’s position. Keith picked up on the man’s insecurities the first night they met, and he couldn’t imagine what his silence had done to Lance’s self-esteem. Despite the words or cries Keith made during their love making, Lance needed affirmation. 

“It was strange at first. It hurt a little. But when things got easier it felt really good, the sex stuff. I mean. I don’t know what I was expecting but I didn’t know it would feel like that. You, it...” He got up again and pressed himself against Lance’s turned back, dragging his warm lips across his shoulder with butterfly kisses. “was the most intense thing I’d ever felt.”

Lance knew Keith enjoyed it. He had the evidence of that enjoyment on his skin. But there was still that tiny part of him that doubted it when Keith’s first reaction was for a shower. Not a kiss, or a hug, or a cuddle or anything couples seemed to do after sex. Just a shower. “Yeah?” He spoke softly, even though the water was running and was probably drowning out most of the sound. “A good intense or a bad intense?” He looked over his shoulder at him, and he knew he must have looked pathetic. Here was someone who cared about him and loved him, and while he wasn’t the greatest at expressing himself, those feelings still got through to Lance. And yet Lance doubted himself anyway. He didn’t doubt Keith, though, and he hoped that was clear as he looked at him. “I didn’t ruin it?”

“It felt like you were made for me.” Keith discovered a new shade of red as he tried to hide his face. He couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth, but Lance needed to hear them. “Y-you felt good.” He kissed his shoulder again reaching up to his neck and even got on his tip toes to get a dusting of his lips against Lance’s temple. 

“You’re not just saying that? I mean, of course you’re not cause you’re not like that, but really?” Lance felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. “And you’d want to do it again sometime?” Did Keith know how much Lance needed encouragement right now? Was that why he was saying all of this even though he was clearly embarrassed?

Biting back a snarky comment Keith kissed the corner of Lance’s mouth. “Yes, really.” He slipped past him, fingers ghosting their way down Lance’s shoulders and over his arm as he did and he stood in the water’s spray, his head tilting back as the sweat and sex washed down his body. “I’m worried what you’ll think of me, if I liked it too much…”

Lance stepped in behind him and wrapped his arms around him, resting his forehead against Keith’s shoulder and standing like that for a moment. “I’m sorry I’m so weird. But if you like it a lot, there’s no such thing as too much when I like it too, right?”

Keith reached his hand back as he leaned his weight more into Lance’s chest while his fingers stroked his cheek. “I’d do it again. I mean… was I okay?” Keith had his insecurities too, their fight to be vocalized took more effort than Lance’s. “I just laid there and oh god…” He rubbed his hand over his own face. “I scratched you…” 

“You didn’t just lay there, and you were more than okay. You were amazing.” Lance took Keith’s hand away from his face and kissed him. His eyes began to close, though he didn’t let them close all the way, since he still wanted to see Keith. His arms tightened a bit around the smaller man, and he just tried to absorb some of his warmth. “You did, but it didn’t hurt.”

Keith continued kissing Lance while they showered. Touching, stroking, taking and allowing Lance to support all his weight as he cleaned him. The resurgence of heat following the intimate cleansing birthed new tremors and groans from Keith’s swollen lips. Lance’s caress jolted his overwrought nerves, and his knees started to give. “Looks like I’m going to need a lot more of your help.”

“Was it too much?” Lance kept Keith steady as they finished washing up. That had to be more than his body could handle, right? If Keith said he needed help, he definitely did. He wasn’t the kind of person to just say something like that unless it was really true, and he was probably embarrassed about it. “Do you feel clean enough to go back to the bed?”

Keith nodded, kissing Lance again. “Yeah. I’d like to do it again,” He kissed him again, long guiding kisses, he twisted his tongue into Lance’s drawing him into his mouth. “But I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Now? Probably not. My kitten needs his sleep, hm? ” Lance whispered against Keith’s lips after that long kiss, his eyes half-lidded. 

“Mmnh.” Keith groaned, “I’d probably pass out in the shower.”

“You probably would.” Lance licked at Keith’s lips. “And carrying you is probably not something you want me to do hm?”

“I won’t complain.” Keith’s lips nudged Lance’s jaw. “Just for today.”

“Oh yeah? So you won’t complain about it later if it happens?” Lance held Keith a moment longer before he moved one arm to turn the water off. “You’ll let me take care of you?”

“It’s something that will make you happy.” Keith faced Lance and slung his arms lazily around his shoulders. “But I’m not that good of a person to keep doing something like that ‘just because’. If it’s you, I don’t think I’ll mind it.”

“If you didn’t like it, do you think I would be happy if you did it anyway?” Lance helped him out of the shower, drying him off but still somehow supporting his weight. “I won’t do something you don’t like. So it’s good if you like it. If I ever do something you don’t like, tell me.”

Keith’s moved his body however Lance adjusted him, indulging in uncharacteristic laziness. His gaze followed Lance as he fussed over him, and the warmth in his chest spread. The tattoo on his back blazed with heat and tingled every time Lance touched him. The sensitivity came with completeness and an overall awareness they had done something right and provided an answer to a question no one had asked.

When Lance was sure Keith was dry, he wrapped a robe around him and helped him back to the bed, though he had him sit on a chair first, so he could change the blankets. When he was satisfied, he helped Keith on the bed before pulling his own underwear back on, since he would be too tempted to do more if he was still completely naked. He didn’t mind taking care of Keith. It made him feel needed, and right now he needed that. He smiled a little once he was sure Keith was settled. 

“Are you okay?” Keith reached his hand out so the tips of his fingers graced over Lance’s cheek. He searched his lover’s eyes and the sullenness he found there hurt the older man. “Did I mess something up? You seem quiet.” 

“Yes, I’m okay. Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, so I guess I was concentrating a little too much on that.” Lance turned his head and brushed his lips over Keith’s fingers. “I think I’m just tired. I’m happy. Overwhelmingly happy. Happier than I ever thought possible.” He kissed Keith’s fingers again. “And I just want to get into the bed and hold you and feel your warmth.” He smiled a little at him. “My body just isn’t used to exertion like that. I haven’t done any training since before my injury.” He leaned in and kissed him. “You’ll just have to help me get used to using it again.”

“That’s it?” Keith sighed and pinched Lance’s cheek. “Promise?”

“I promise.” Lance didn’t even wince as Keith pinched him. “What can I do to make it you believe I’m okay?”

“Kiss me.” Keith blushed with the command. He couldn’t be the indirect type. If he wanted something he’d ask for it. Right now he wanted more of Lance’s kisses. “Hold me and I’ll keep you warm all night.”

“Done.” Lance kissed Keith as he climbed into the bed next to him and pulled him into his arms. He kissed him again and held him close to his chest. “And you can take all my warmth. too. It’s for you, and only you.”

“See already better.” Keith’s lips bowed up against Lance’s and he nuzzled his cheek. “What was it like, for you?”

“Amazing.” Lance closed his eyes at the nuzzle. “Like I was becoming a part of you, and you were holding me. It felt so hot, and I just wanted to drown in you.”

Keith hid his face. “Yeah?” He maneuvered his body around, so he could lay his head upon Lance’s chest while he drew idle circles on his stomach. “You know,” One finger traced along a dip of muscle. ”Doesn’t feel like you’ve stopped working out.”

“I am a little softer than I used to be, but I was always thin, so maybe that’s why.” Lance practically cooed at the attention Keith was paying him. “Though I did a lot of walking, but it was nothing like my previous training.”

“I’d like to see that. But I think you look amazing.” Keith started a series of lazy kisses over Lance’s chest and trailed them over his shoulder then down to the scar on his arm.

“Oh? You want to see me shirtless and sweaty?” Lance grinned. “That can be arranged, if you really want it. I’m already halfway there.”

“More often.” A mischievous glint lit up the shop boy’s eyes.

“That can be arranged with no complaints from me.” Lance continued to grin. “Even as soon as the morning if you’d like.”

“More promises.” Keith stared up at Lance’s profile, admiring how the moonlight cut across his face. “I won’t be leaving my apartment tomorrow is what you’re telling me.”

“Possibly.” Lance held him a little closer. “That depends on how you feel in the morning, and if you still want me.”

Keith curled in tighter yawning into his arm. “I love you. I’ll feel that in the morning.” He was either feeling honestly tired, or tiredly honest.

“I don’t doubt that,” Lance shook his head slightly. “But for now we should sleep. We both should.”

“Hmm.” Keith kissed the man’s arm once, letting his eyes rest.

Lance held him as close as he could without disturbing his rest, and he closed his eyes. With a soft muzzle of Keith’s hair, he was out, settling into a peaceful sleep.


	10. Nanakamado

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R~~~** Summary is provided in the narrative for the last chapter
> 
>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Mountain Ash** _Nanakamado 七竈_ \- I will Watch Over You/Cautious/Wiser 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

Lance’s brows furrowed as the sun filtered through the window, and the muffled sounds of early-morning city life echoed off the alley walls. He kept his eyes closed and turned his head to press his face into Keith’s hair, as though that would block out the light and sound. Like this, he could spend just a few more moments in blissful slumber. Well, at least now that he slept a little. 

Sometime during the night, Lance’s arm started to cramp up. He had opened his eyes to check it, but Keith’s head had been firmly nestled against it, so he just assumed that was the reason. It hadn’t hurt since he started spending nights with Keith, and it only hurt when he was away from him. But he also hadn’t been wearing the brace much since they got together. He only really wore it around the base and to the meeting with his boss. He had taken it off almost immediately after, since he rushed over to the shop. But there wasn’t anything he could have done about it with their sleeping position, so he just closed his eyes again.

But now that it was morning, the cramping was gone, and Lance wasn’t sure if that meant it was fine, or if his arm just gave up because Keith had been against It all night. He groaned a little and nuzzled Keith’s hair more, shifting a little to pull him closer. His eyes opened once he was nestled into those ebony locks, the sun making the sheen of Keith’s hair somewhat iridescent, faint hues of purple and blue seeming to blend with the black. 

“Mmn…” Keith wiggled his nose in the chill morning air. He’d forgotten to fill the radiator last night, and the ache in his lower back wasn’t about to let him move. 

“Are you getting up?” He whispered to his companion without much motivation.

“You’re half on top of me. You’d have to get up first.” Lance murmured though he nuzzled his face into Keith’s hair a bit more. “So I’m not getting up any time soon by the looks of it.”

“Cold.” Keith tightened into a stubborn curl, flipping to twist his legs tighter into Lance’s. 

“Then stay in the blankets. I’ll handle the heat.” Lance reluctantly untwisted himself and pulled out from under Keith. He slid out of the bed, the chilly air sending a shiver down his spine. He yawned and padded over to the radiator, filling it and turning it back on, yawning as he listened for the banging and the hissing to indicate it was working again. 

Keith growled when Lance left him, but his displeasure didn’t stop him from enjoying the view of dark suede skin, moving in slow ripples of folding silk in the shimmering sun. Motes of dust danced in the individual rays, catching the light and filling the air with tiny sparkles. 

Lance reminded Keith of a fantasy creature he’d read about in one of his several fiction books. A mischievous woodland elf, bronzed and born for the sun. Keith stared, mesmerized by every move he made. Drawn to him, Keith pulled himself up to his elbows, the thin sheet slipping down to his stomach.

Lance turned and shuffled back towards the bed once he felt the heat seep from the radiator, and he kissed Keith once before he crawled around him and shimmied back into the blankets, pressing his face into the pillow and groaning. “Warm me.”

Keith blinked several times after his kiss. Laying back down, but leaving the blanket at his hips. “Are you okay otherwise?” He leaned over his back. “Does it hurt anywhere?” He kissed the back of his neck, then his shoulder, laying most of his body against his lover. “Did I injure my solider?” 

“No, of course you didn’t hurt me, Kitten. I was the one inside of you, so I should be asking you that.” Lance’s muffled voice came from the pillow, and he groaned a little at the kisses. They sent shocks of pleasure through his muscles. “My arm hurt, so I didn’t sleep well.”

“Your arm did?” Keith laid flat against Lance’s back, head pillowed between his shoulders. “Lemme see.” He whispered as his hand drifted down toward the scar.

Lance shifted and stuck his arm out to the side, though he left his face buried in the pillow. It was starting to act up again now that he was talking about it.

Keith kissed the back of Lance’s neck. “Turn so I can get a good look at it without dislocating your arm.”

Lance let out a groan of displeasure, but he rolled onto his left side, holding his right arm up so Keith could move it however he wanted. His eyes remained closed, and a pout made itself present on his lips. “But the pillow…”

“Will still be there.” Keith rolled his eyes, but the warmth of his smile belied the action. “Let me se-” Keith’s abrupt cut off ended with a sharp intake of breath. “Lance! Y-your arm? It’s-”

“Nnn? What’s wrong?” Lance opened his eyes and looked at Keith before he turned and sat up, rubbing his eyes as if that would wake him up more before he turned his head to look at his arm. His eyes widened at the wavy blue lines that circled it and seemed to form into the same kind of lion Keith had on his back, only this one was just blue. There were no threads surrounding it except a single, red ribbon that seemed to curl around the creature’s neck “W-what? Where did that come from? What did you do to me while I slept?”

Keith touched the tattoo with gentle fingers, stroking each blue line, swooping and swirling along with them in the pattern of flowing tides. When the accusation left Lance’s lips Keith jerked away from him, standing from the bed and taking a few paces back. “I didn’t do anything!” 

“I was joking! I thought that was obvious! Of course you didn’t do anything.” Lance’s cheeks had flared momentarily when Keith’s cool fingers slid along his arm and the newly appeared lion, but the heat left as soon as Keith jumped from the bed. “You know, a joke, like maybe you painted it on in my sleep, but, ah…It feels—when you touch it.” His eyes started to close, and he sighed.

“O-oh.” Keith worried his lip and hugged his elbow. He gave Lance an unsure expression, the accusation wasn’t new to him, and it touched upon an uncomfortable subject. He settled down on the edge of the bed, his posture tense even as he forced himself to relax and take the arm up again. 

“The scar is gone.” Keith leaned forward now, inquisitive as he rolled Lance’s arm rather than twisted it, to see the other side. “It’s really gone?” He searched the bed with his eyes as if the scar had fallen off and hidden itself in the blanket folds. “Like gone gone."

“I would never actually accuse you of hurting me, Kitten.” But the mention of his scar caused Lance to blink and look at him, then at his arm, his eyes widening once again. “How is that possible?” Sure enough, the nasty burn scar that had indicated where the bullet went into his arm was gone, replaced by one of the lion’s paws. And the scar where it had exited was now the curve of the tail. “How?”

Keith sat back on his legs again, running his hand through the morning mop of hair. His tattoo burned, and while he was certain his imagination got the best of him, he swore he heard a sizzling in his ear. “It chose you.” Keith bent his arm to touch the red flesh flowing over his shoulder like living flame. 

“Blue. Water. The body. The whole.” Keith reached out his fingers to touch Lance’s tattoo again. “Connected by the body.” He whispered as a priest reads a psalm.

Lance whimpered a little as those touches sent small shocks of pleasure through his body. “Body?” He whispered and leaned a little closer to Keith. “We had sex, and now I’m connected to you even more?” He could feel a heat spreading through him, originating from Keith’s touch. “And it healed me, so was I meant for you?”

“I-“ Keith started, and lifted his eyes to Lance. “I really don’t know. If that’s what it means… I just… It’s hard to explain. And I’ll suck at it.”

“Even if that’s not what it means,” Lance started and rested a hand on Keith’s thigh, grinning a bit. “You can just say yes.” He leaned in and kissed him, licking at Keith’s lower lip before he whispered. “Maybe we should connect again to see if it’s true?”

Keith sucked his lower lip between his teeth, shivering when Lance’s taste rolled over his tongue. The heat from his lion pulsed and spread over his body, leaving him feeling weak and his mind hazed. “You’re really not bothered by it?” He graced the back of his knuckles over his lover’s dark cheek, extending his arm toward him as he laid back on the bed, weighed down by an unseen force. “You’re taking this in stride.”

“How could I be bothered by it when you’re sitting here, naked, sexy, looking at me like you want me to pull you into my arms and kiss all your doubts away.” Lance leaned down with him and kissed him again. It was true. Keith looking so unsure of their present situation actually made Lance want to toss him down on the bed and reaffirm their relationship over and over all day. The way he looked at him with those slightly pink cheeks, the way those amethyst gems stared at him with such hope, but also a little tinge of fear. Keith was clearly afraid of being rejected, but Lance was content to think that the symbol on his arm was proof enough that he would never leave him. 

“You see that much when you look at me?” Keith whispered after their kiss, leaning up as if pulled in by the gravity of Lance’s desire. He kissed him again, ivory hands sliding up his arms, stopping only to stroke two fingers over the spine of the blue lion.

“I see a lot more than just that when I look at you.” Lance kissed Keith’s jaw and groaned at the fingers stroking his arm. “I see everything I ever wanted or needed.” He reached up and took Keith’s hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing his palm, then his wrist. “My love. My life. My reason for being.”

“That’s a lot to see in one person.” Keith’s attempts to control his breathing broke with the sound of squeaking hitch. Lance found another of Keith’s weak spots under is wrist and along of soft skin of his pulse line. 

“Well, you’re the only one I see it in, so that’s fair isn’t it?” Lance nuzzled his wrist and smirked at him, kissing it again, though this time he let his tongue taste Keith’s skin. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“You’ll never leave?” Keith’s voice became softened by doubt. “The army…if they change your post- Nn.” A whimper escaped Keith’s lips, his fingers twitching as Lance continued to test his discovery.

“I will find a way to stay here.” Lance’s other hand started to slide up Keith’s thigh. “I will make sure no one can take me away from you.” He whispered the words against Keith’s wrist and licked again.

Keith licked his lips again, sucking the pouty flesh into his teeth and letting it slide out into slow rose-colored prominence. His free hand combed into Lance’s hair gripping the pampered locks. “Stay with me.” 

“I will,” Lance whispered, “I won’t leave you.” He pulled his head back so he could look at Keith’s face, his eyes darkening when he saw the desire in his eyes. He leaned in to kiss him, just barely pressing his lips against his when there was a loud knock at the door. 

“Lance! You jerk! I know you’re here!” Hunk’s voice echoed through the room as though he were already inside.

Lance groaned and pulled back. He forgot he left a note telling Hunk he’d be back last night to talk to him. Of course he would come barreling into the shop to look for him. For a moment, he just remained above Keith, looking down at him, but the impatient banging at the door ruined the mood. With a sigh, he looked at Keith helplessly and slid off the bed once more, grabbing Keith’s robe and handing it to him before he found his pants and pulled them on. “All right all right. Calm down and go down to the shop to wait. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Jerk!” But Hunk’s voice seemed less annoyed and more satisfied, and Lance sighed again when he heard his friend half stomp down the stairs.

Every part of Keith bristled, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. “You’re kidding.” He hugged the robe to his chest with eyes narrowed at the door. He recognized the voice but in his frazzled mind he couldn’t place it. 

“Who was that?” Keith grumbled as he sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed. He tossed the robe to the end of the bed, letting his agitation be noted by his action if not his voice. Heavy footfalls all but stomped their way to his closet as he started to dress, making sure Lance got an eyeful of his naked form before he covered it with black buckle-riddled slacks and a lose wine-colored peasant top with open lacing down his torso. Dressed, he picked up Lance’s jacket and thrust it out at him.

“That was Hunk. I told him I would be back last night, and then obviously I didn’t go back, so he’s probably both worried and angry with me.” Lance pulled the rest of his uniform on and took the jacket from Keith, shaking his head and trying to ignore the other man’s obvious agitation channeled in his direction. “Pidge probably let him in, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s down there smirking about all of this.” He kept his eyes averted as he started towards the door.

“Hunk. The cook? And the one at the Okiya the other day.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, his frustration quelling a little. “I was a jerk to him.” He shrugged on a black vest and a pair of crossing utility belts which hung lose from his hips.

“If you were, I don’t think he noticed.” Lance shook his head and folded his jacket over his arm, his tie around his neck, but he left it untied. He kept his gaze on the floor as he spoke. “And if he did notice, he’s forgotten about it by now.” But after a moment, he lifted his head and looked Keith over. “You know, even though I just spent all night naked with you, I think you look good like this, too. Better when you’re not so agitated.” He leaned over and kissed Keith’s cheek. “Hunk would have broken the door down if I didn’t answer him.”

“Hm?” Keith’s finger combed his hair before letting it drop around his shoulders. He had no idea how attractive he could be doing the most mundane things. Even the smoldering irritation in his eyes had an allure until Lance’s kiss snuffed it out and left only clueless humility.

“I’m saying you’re pretty, handsome, sexy, attractive…I could keep going.” Lance grinned and leaned over to kiss his cheek before he walked to the door.

“Yeah,” Keith flushed and trotted past Lance to the door, a haughty expression on his face. “Well you have to say nice things, considering how you left me.” He slung his hands into his back pockets and casually skipped down the stairs, saluting a ‘mornin’ To Pidge as he did so.

“I don’t have to say nice things.” Lance followed Keith down the stairs. “I want to say nice things, and it wasn’t like I wanted to stop. I just didn’t want Hunk to break the door down.” He kept his jacket on his arm and managed a smile at Pidge before he looked apologetically at Hunk, who was just sitting at the counter and grinning like he hadn’t even been annoyed in the first place.

“Breakfast?” Hunk nodded to the plates on the counter. Pidge already seemed to have polished off hers, which was impressive given her small stature, but Hunk hadn’t touched his yet. “I think we need to talk.”

Lance glanced at Keith before he slid onto a stool and nodded. “Yeah, sorry man.”

Keith sat beside Pidge, arching a brow at her then at her plate then back at her before he shrugged. Her ability to be bottomless never ceased to amaze Keith. All the energy must have gone straight to her brain. 

Keith nodded his head to Hunk. “Hey. Thanks for the food. It’s always really good. You’re pretty much the reason Pidge keeps operating.”

Hunk grinned a bit, his hand clapped on Lance’s shoulder, even though he turned to address Keith. “Yeah? Well thanks. And thanks for taking care of this idiot even though he took a while to figure himself out.”

Lance groaned a little and swatted at Hunk, but the hand on his shoulder just squeezed encouragingly.

“I mean, how long did it take you to figure out Keiko was Keith?” Hunk grinned more when Pidge snickered. “You’re such an idiot sometimes.”

Keith’s eyes shot open. “Wait, what?”

“What? It was so obvious!” Hunk shrugged a little. “I suspected as soon as I saw you at Shay’s and helped you with those heavy boxes, and then she told me your name and I totally knew. Lance talked about you all the time, so it really wasn’t that difficult to figure out.”

Lance groaned and slumped. “So I’m just an idiot?” He could feel the heat coming to his face.

“He talked about me, that much?” A pink tinge bursted up in Keith’s cheeks. 

Pidge’s smirk warmed in veritable degrees until the expression became one of loving fondness. “Well yeah. He spent every waking moment he had around you. What did you think?”

“Ah this is so embarrassing!” Lance leaned over the counter and hid his face in his arms. Now the heat made it to his ears.

“All the time.” Hunk chuckled. “It was so cute! Especially when he talked about you as Keith, which he did waaaaaaay more than you as Keiko.” He reached out and ruffled Lance’s hair. “All blushy and adorable every time.”

“You should have seen Keith! Watching the door like a love sick puppy!” Pidge laughed, petting the growling man in question.

“Pidge!!” 

“Fair is fair. Can’t have Lance be the only one looking love struck. I believe in balanced relationships. Also, it’s unfair that Shiro got to see you all dressed up, and I was denied.” Pidge stated in her matter of fact tone.

“Says the technophile.” Keith snarked.

Lance tensed at Pidge’s words, and the blush faded from his ears and cheeks. He turned his head, though it remained on his folded arms, and he looked at Keith, trying to focus on the good of all that conversation. “You really did that? For me?” 

Hunk grinned and winked in Pidge’s direction before he poked Lance’s red cheek. “Man you were soooo red just now.”

“Hunk!”

“Payback for making me worry last night.”

Keith met Lance’s eyes before flickering them away and letting his hair curtain his blushing cheeks.

“Seriously though, he’d watch the door and light up like a bonfire when he saw a Lance shaped shadow walk up! For like a month!” Pidge leaned back in her chair. “I’d never see him such a neurotic mess before.”

Keith shrunk in a little more. The embarrassment apparent, but he didn’t stop Pidge from talking. She understood what Lance needed to hear. Keith wasn’t a fling. American soldiers had a ‘love’em and ditch’em’ reputation. In the slums there was a slew of single mothers with mixed children and no income. Keith didn’t have to worry about such a bleak outcome, but the boy still had a heart, and it was a fragile one. The emotions inside Keith were sincere and life-altering. Lance lived the exotic dream of the floating world, wading blissfully in a geisha-fueled fantasy, while Keith sat at a counter biting his nails to the quick.

Lance watched Keith for a moment before he smiled, even though his cheeks were getting red again, and even though Hunk kept poking them.

“Oh man. Lance was kind of the same way. Only he just never shut up. Every day it was Keith this and Keith that and isn’t he so cool? And he’s so good looking and would it be weird if he found him attractive? And what could be done to stay in Japan forever?” Hunk smirked and looked at Keith. “He’s got it pretty bad for you.” 

Lance kept looking at Keith, but he whined a little. “Now the teasing is going too far.” He knew Keith needed to hear it, though, so his protest wasn’t very convincing.

“You two make it too easy.” Pidge cooed with absolute glee.

“Can we stop now?” Came Keith’s small voice. Lance’s eyes, in the brief glimpses he gave him, bore into him, and his lion reacted, burning and tingling down the right flank of his spine. 

“I will need to speak with you.” Keith’s gaze focused on Pidge, trying to distract himself.

“Oh took a serious turn.” Pidge arched a brow.

“Code blue.” Keith said it with no inflection, but the small techhead understood.

Lance could feel his arm tingling, and it seemed to flare at the change in tone. He sat up a little and looked at Pidge, then at Keith again. “Should we leave you two alone then?” Code blue, huh? That was clearly about him, wasn’t it?

Hunk’s jovial expression faded. “Oh um. Is my being here a problem? I can go? Just make sure you eat the food, and you,” He poked Lance’s shoulder and lowered his voice, “make sure you come back today so we can talk?”

“What? No! I mean I didn’t mean to say anything like that.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean anything. I mean I have to speak with them but you don’t have to leave.” This was awkward. Keith shifted in his chair. He sucked at human interactions. Lance adored Hunk and Keith wanted Hunk to like him. A ball of cold weighted anxiety twisted in his gut.

“Oh! Okay.” Hunk’s mood seemed to brighten instantly. 

Lance rested his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You’re okay.” He smiled a little. Keith was probably beating himself up over Hunk’s momentary loss of mirth.

Keith exhaled and gave Lance a thankful look. He fought against the urge to lean into him and lost the battle. Pressing his shoulder into the supportive hand, Keith gave in a little more.

Lance scooted his stool closer to Keith and nudged a plate in front of him, still keeping one hand on his shoulder. “You should eat.”

Hunk grinned as he watched the two of them before he turned to Pidge. “Pretty neat place you got here. You fixed up that gadget for Lance’s arm right? Awesome work.”

“Yeah, if he actually wore it. He barely touches the damn thing!” Pidge grumbled. “This is all they tend to do.” She motioned to the couple at the end of the table.

“I’m ok.” Keith kept his voice low and soft. “I’ll eat. I couldn’t let something made from Hunk go to waste.” Keith looked up at the bigger man with a gentle smile, using the well practiced skill of ignoring Pidge. “Thank you for always taking care of us.”

Hunk grinned. “It’s cute though.” He shook his head a little. “Well he does wear it all around the base, and he seems much more confident. Like he was before he was hurt. So thanks.” But then he turned and grinned at Keith too. “Thank you for always taking care of that idiot.”

“Hey! Don’t be so mean to me.” Lance pouted, but started eating some of the eggs Hunk had made. 

“Lately it seems I’m the one getting taken care of.” Keith admitted with a shy tilt of his head, trying his best at being social.

“He spoils you rotten. Food. Gifts. Landed yourself a straight up flush little gulpy, didn’t you?” Pidge grinned sipping her tea, sitting back in her chair.

“It’s not like that! I’m not like that. The thought didn’t even cross my mind! I don’t care that he’s rich or whatever!” Keith turned to Lance. “Honest! I mean at first I thought about it, but that’s not what I care about.” Shame lowered Keith’s head, remembering his reasons for accepting the job from Coran in the first place.

“Isn’t it normal to want to treat your lover well?” Lance blinked a little and looked at Pidge, honestly confused. “Do I go overboard? Is it bad?”

“Well, you’re you. That’s all.” Hunk smirked. “You have a tendency to throw money at things you like.”

Lance looked at Keith, his eyes wide. “Do I do too much? Is it offensive?”

Keith’s eyes were wide, his head still bowed, despite the red shell of his ears poking through his raven curtain. Lance used the L word. In front of people. Nonchalantly. “I-I-I-“

“He’s broken.” Pidge laughed getting up to take her plate and Hunk’s to the back room. “I wouldn’t worry about going too far. I don’t think it’s possible with him. So Hunk, Lance says you’re an engineer? What kind of stuff do you get to work on?”

Hunk grabbed a platter of extra food, taking Pidge’s blatant hint, and following her to the back room, happily chatting away about his current project.

Lance looked between Keith and the now closed door to the back room, hearing the excited conversation through the metal, but unable to make out the words. He looked back at Keith and blinked. “Sorry. I embarrassed you didn’t I?”

“No!” Keith lifted his head to Lance, the blush lingering. “I didn’t hate it. I’m not used to it.” He leaned forward and rested his forehead on Lance’s shoulder. “You don’t think I’m like that, though? The money thing…” He turned his face into Lance’s neck, nuzzling the warm soft flesh like he’d be dying to do since they stepped down into the shop. 

“As long as you’re sure.” Lance spoke quietly since Keith was so close, and he gently rubbed his shoulder. “I forget sometimes that we do things back home a lot differently than you do over here. Where I grew up, maybe not in a lot of America, but at least in my village, everyone is affectionate. Couples hold hands and sit close together when they watch their kids play. Everyone is like a big family. So I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” He looked at Keith out of the corner of his eye. “But I also won’t deny that you’re my lover. And you don’t have to worry about me thinking you’re all about the money. If you were, that bike would be new and those kids would be sick.”

“I don’t want you to deny it. But shouting it from the rooftop might be a bit much.” Keith settled into Lance’s awkward embrace. “We need to talk about your arm though. Let’s go to the workshop when you’re done eating.” He shifted again so he sat straight up in his chair.

“I haven’t done that yet.” Lance pouted. “I won’t if you never want me to.” He dropped his hand from Keith’s when the other man sat up. “And my arm? I mean I figured. I’m code blue hm?” He arched a brow as he turned his head to look at him, poking at the food on his plate. 

“Well I couldn’t say outright. Pidge knew what I meant.” Keith continued to eat. “She’s green. Her mark is on the left arm and represents the mind.”

“I supposed that’s true. Hunk wouldn’t understand.” Lance nodded a little, but then he arched a brow. “So…how did that happen to her then? I mean it obviously wasn’t like what we did.”

“I don’t know, really. When I started working here, Pidge I had a few things in common. I mean she’s way smarter than I could ever hope to be, and the way she sees the world is amazing. Everything can be dismantled and put back together, and even if you use all the same parts, it doesn’t always have to be the same shape. Ya know?” Keith’s hand touched his shoulder, over the start of his own tattoo. “One day she just woke up that way.”

“Huh.” Lance nodded as If it all made sense, and he ate a little more before he looked at Keith again. “So it can just happen to people? Someone you’re close to for some reason?” His lips pursed a moment, but then he frowned slightly. “Which means…Shiro?” He did his best to keep the bitterness from his voice.

“Yes.” Keith bit his lip as he moved his fingers over the end of a chopstick, shoulders tense. “Shiro is black.”

“How?” Lance knew he shouldn’t let the tight feeling in his stomach get a hold of him, so he rested his hand on Keith’s arm to calm himself down and to reassure the other man. “Why? Because you liked him?”

“It’s not that simple… or shallow. I don’t think?” Keith swallowed. “The black lion is ‘soul.’ We were raised together. Then he raised me. I’d have nothing if not for Shiro, and who knows where I’d be without Shiro’s family.” Keith stayed away from mentioning any childhood fantasies. “He’s had black, here,” He pointing to the upper center of his chest, “since the day he pulled me out of the fire.” 

Lance gently rubbed Keith’s arm and nodded. The tight feeling was still there. He knew he would never be able to give Keith what Shiro gave him, and a part of him really hated that. But to act on it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. So he leaned over and gently kissed Keith’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I need to get better about how I feel about him because it makes you uncomfortable when I get jealous and annoyed.”

Keith shook his head. “I understand. I don’t think I’d like knowing that my lover’s former crush was someone like that either. But you trust me right? You know I wouldn’t do anything, and Shiro made it clear that he’d never think of me that way.”

“Of course I trust you.” Lance’s eyes widened. “That was never even a question in my mind. I just don’t like him because he clearly doesn’t like or trust me. I mean yeah, when you first told me you used to like him, I was definitely jealous. And I guess hearing that he’s so important makes me feel a little more jealous about it, but I’m not…” He paused as he tried to come up with the right wording. “It would be like being upset that someone is close to a brother, and that’s not what I want to be like. I trust you.”

Keith relaxation became visible with a settling of his shoulders. “Okay. Well then… blue is you. Blue is the body.” He cleared his throat. “So.. umm there’s that.”

Lance kissed Keith’s cheek again and whispered, “You said as much this morning, and that makes me kind of happy. But is there anyone else? You’re…what then, red? I’m blue, Shiro is black, Pidge is green. Anyone else?” He nuzzled. “Or is it just four?”

“Red?” Keith pursed his lips, his searching the air. “Red is the… hm..there’s not a good English translation for it but it’s chi. So the will or the blood the combining force that pulls things together. Strength… or vitality or something like that.” Keith leaned in for each nuzzle and soft kiss, feeling his lion warm to it.

“There’s yellow. Yellow is supposed to be the heart.”

“Oh?” For a moment, that tightness was back. So if Keith connected to him through his body, and Pidge through his mind, and Shiro through his soul, there was someone else who connected to his heart? He closed his eyes and shifted so he could rest his forehead against Keith’s shoulder. “Does that mean someone’s going to take you away from me?”

“No.” Keith wrapped his fingers through Lance’s as he bent his head down to kiss the top his head. “No one could do that. Heart can mean anything. A common love? A common goal. I mean there’s that saying ‘heart of a lion,’ right? In English? That’s how it goes? I don’t know why it picks who it does. Or what triggers it. Just that they are associated with me.”

“Yeah…” Lance’s voice was soft, and he nodded a little even though he kept his forehead against Keith’s shoulder. “I really hope that’s what it is. I don’t ever want to lose you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I know I joke around, and I seem like everything is okay a lot of the time, but I’ve never needed anyone else the way I need you. If you ever left me, I would probably waste away and not know how to move on.”

“How do you need me?” Keith titled his head up to the ceiling feeling the warmth spread from where Lance touched him, swearing he could hear a lion roar inside his head.

“In every way.” Lance nuzzled that shoulder a little. “To love me. To hold me. To yell at me when I do something stupid, but also comfort me when I feel stupid because you yell at me. To let me take care of you when I need to, even if you don’t think you do. To guide me so I don’t smother and alienate you. So many things.”

“Lance.” Keith whispered, suppressing a shiver. “Well I haven’t yelled at you for a while now.” 

“I’m okay with you not yelling, but you can comfort me even when you don’t yell at me.” Lance lifted his head and looked at him. “So…what does all this mean?”

“That’s why we should go to the shop.” Keith got up from the chair. “Are you finished eating?”

“Yeah. Are you?” Lance took Keith’s lead and stood as well. 

“Yes.” Keith nodded toward his empty plate. “I’ll grow big and strong. Don’t worry.” Getting to his tip toes Keith kissed Lance’s forehead.

Lance chuckled a little and took his hand. “Well there’s that, and Hunk will cry if he thought you didn’t like his food.” He smiled slightly. “Ok. Let’s go see whatever it is you want to show me. Just make sure you explain everything because I’m not sure I’ll understand.”

“Okay. Head to the shop. I’ll meet you there in a minute.” 

Lance didn’t hide the look of confusion that crossed his face, but he slowly let go of Keith’s hand and walked to the workshop, pushing open the door and turning on the light. He always felt weird being in here without Keith, and this was no exception. It didn’t matter if Keith said he would be behind him. He didn’t like, or understand, why he had to head to the shop alone. And so he stood just inside the room, staring at the cover draped over the air bike they had been working on. 

 

True to his word Keith followed behind Lance by only a minute but now with his hair tied away from his face. The raven strands wrapped around and twisted inside of stick, sans a few curling wisps draping down and accentuating the slender nape of his neck. Watching Lance, Keith removed his vest and pulled open the lace of his shirt enough to expose the tattooed portions of his shoulder and upper back.

“Um…” Lance stared at Keith, his cheeks flushing. “Keith? What are…?” He couldn’t help it. His eyes landed on his neck, following the curve as it met his tattooed shoulder, and he shifted a bit. His right arm burned just a little, and his pants started to feel a bit tighter. Was Keith taking advantage of the fact that they had almost gotten into it again this morning, and now he was teasing Lance? Was this payback?

Keith’s lips parted, sensing Lance’s hunger and feeling the ghost of its caress against his skin. “Y-your lion and my lion are special.” He tried to focus. “Fire and water, all their forms will continue to affect the other. Flame melts ice. Water douses flame. Absence of flame turns water to ice. Flame burns again.” The lines crossing Keith back coiled and waved like ribbons caught in the wind. The blue rope slipped around the lion, collaring it and clutching the beast until it gave a silent roar.

Lance blinked and reached out to touch that blue coil that appeared and moved on Keith’s tattoo. “So we’re opposites, but we need each other?” He stepped closer, his fingers still on that mark, and he felt his arm burn more, but the burn was also soothed by an icy feeling. That was soon replaced with a darkness when the ribbon curled, and he pulled his hand back from the image as it changed. Lance’s eyes seemed to darken as he watched the way the blue coil started to strangle the lion. 

“Ah.” Keith groaned. “Yeah. We could’ve have just as easily hated each other. The intensity of the feeling was destined to be strong.” The coil strangling the creature shifted and laid upon its back, the ends coming around and hugging over its shoulder, becoming an armored banner. Keith panted with unseen effort. 

The ice in Lance’s own arm started burning more than the heat, but when the color shifted and changed, the elements seemed to mesh again, supporting each other instead of fighting for control, and he clenched his fist a bit as if shaking off an invisible struggle.

“There’s more,” Keith said, after a moment. He twisted his hand around, showing tiny dancing flames standing up on his fingertips and travel to the inside of his palm. “I don’t know how or why this happens, but we have a connection to the elements we carry.”

“Woah.” Lance watched those flames flicker. “Well I’m glad we don’t hate each other, or the body connection would probably be awkward for both of us.” His eyes were wide as he watched the flames dance. “How…did you do that?”

“I don’t know.” Keith closed his hand snuffing out the flame. “It came out of me one night when I was young. Only Shiro’s father was there.” 

“Oh. So that’s what...” Lance shook his head and cut himself off, pulling Keith into his arms and holding him close. He pressed a kiss to his forehead and smiled. “You know, you’re pretty amazing.”

“How are you like this? I mean this is a lot to take in.” Keith shook his head. “What I can do is really not that great. Pidge can do some amazing stuff. I watched her save a dying plant with just a touch. I’m just a glorified lantern.”

“But how cool is it to make fire? Isn’t that the biggest discovery of all time? When people made fire, they could do so many things.” Lance kept his arms around Keith. “Fire is life. It provides warmth. It cooks food. It has so much value. Just because Pidge has a cool power doesn’t mean you don’t have one.”

“Gun powder. Cannons. It kills and destroys. What I can do is pretty weak now. She thinks I’m gun shy, but whatever. I don’t need to be a weapon. And I can take care of myself without it.” Keith rested his weight into Lance’s chest, letting the man hold and comfort him as much as he wanted.

“Pidge believes it’s some kind of alchemical reaction to something in my body, but it can spread and grow into others with a matching genetic code. Like I’m a dowsing rod or a messed up plague.” Keith sighed. 

“The treatments are for the old man. He runs tests and needs new samples regularly, because blood only has a certain shelf life.

“But gunpowder And canons are man-made.” Lance was about to say something more to cheer His lover up, but he frowned when Keith mentioned the treatments. “Stop doing those. There’s no need to test you and take your blood. All it does is hurt you. Does Pidge get them? Shiro? No. Is Sam going to come for me? No, I doubt it. It’s just you, and it’s unnecessary.”

“But it’s my body doing it. Shouldn’t I be the one tested?” Keith shook his head. “If it’s something inside of me doing stuff to the people around me, I want to know everything we can about it.” He touched the inside of Lance’s arm with gentle fingers. “What if it’s hurting you?”

“It’s not.” Pidge jumped down the step into the room, uncaring or unaware of the private embrace the older men shared. 

“Hunk’s meeting up with Shay he’ll catch up with you later.” The androgynous figure leaned against the shelving as she addressed Lance.

Lance rested his hand over Keith’s and he nodded along with Pidge’s words. “Thanks.” He murmured before he once again leveled his gaze on Keith. “It hurts you. That’s the part I have a problem with. None of this is painful except seeing you in pain. I don’t like it, and I want it to stop.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Right Pidge?” Keith begged. 

“No. Of course there are no certainties. Unless given proof.” She adjusted her glasses and looked up at the ceiling. “So I can’t argue against that. And I don’t want to think that my father would do anything to hurt Keith. He’s not like that, but I can’t say for sure what he’s been working on. He’s been erratic.”

Pidge faced the shelf, playing with a spring on one of the discarded hunks of metal. “He’s changed in the last few months. Him and Shiro are different. More closed off.”

“Shiro’s been having nightmares.” Keith stepped forward. “It’s why I stay with him from time to time.”

“The same ones?” Pidge’s eyebrow arched above the rim of her glasses.

“The woman reaching for him.” Keith stole a quick look at Lance before going back to Pidge.

“The African woman? With white hair?”

“Yeah.” Keith bit his lip. “But, I’m not getting hurt.” He twisted the topic off Shiro. “Do I look like I’m in pain?” 

Lance’s hand slowly dropped from where it was resting on Keith’s. His jaw set, and he listened to the conversation, but he kept his mouth shut because he knew he would say something he didn’t mean, and he also knew that his feelings on any of these issues didn’t matter. Instead, he pointedly studied one of the walls in the workshop, as though each little rut in the bricks was a thousand times more interesting than anything else going on. “You are getting hurt.” He muttered when Keith finally changed the topic.

“Lance, I have to do this. If there’s a chance what’s happen is hurting the people I care about, I have to take it.” Keith swiped his hand through the air.

“Ultimately it’s your choice. Lance’s concerns are valid. But perhaps next time instead going in mindlessly, you should ask a few questions. You’re not a stupid brat who can’t speak up for himself anymore. You yell all the time, just because it’s my father, it shouldn’t make any difference.”

“But it was your father and Shiro’s who saved me. I can’t…” 

“Keith. I get it. Believe me I do. This is my father we’re talking about. I’m asking, for your sake and your guard dog, that you take better care of yourself.” Pidge pressed her small hand against Keith’s arm. “A little self awareness can go a long way.”

“Can I get some back up from the peanut gallery or are you gonna watch mold grow?” Pidge leveled her eyes at Lance.

Lance’s eyes moved away from the wall to regard the two of them, and he frowned. “I already said what I thought about it. Anything else I say isn’t going to be something either of you want to hear.”

“I’ll take input. How this guy reacts might be different story.” Pidge pointed at Keith who stood with his arms crossed over his chest and lower lip pouting out.

A sigh escaped Lance’s lips and he shook his head. “I don’t understand. I’ve seen men die from bleeding too much, and yet you let him take so much blood that you’re faint, and it happens way more often than it should.” He looked right at Keith, frowning. “It’s stupid. It’s reckless. And I don’t care if you think it’s about learning. How many years has it been happening? And you still don’t have any answers as to whether what happened is hurting anyone else? It’s obviously not hurting anyone else, so why aren’t you more wary of it?” 

“I have to trust them!” Keith yelled. “You don’t get-“

“We have plenty of answers.” Pidge cut Keith off, she could feel his anger’s seething heat. “There’s always more questions. We know this works the same way a bacteria or virus does. It latches on to something in our genetic code and the reaction is amazing.” Pidge shrugged her arm out of her shirt, the wrappings across her chest visible, giving the first physical clue to her feminine anatomy. If bothered by the exposure, it never showed in her demeanor.

“See this?” Down Pidge’s left arm a small green lion laid upon the crook of her elbow. It sat with in vines and other flora as they moved, caught in a whispering breeze. “It appears to be alchemic in nature. A reaction shifting the natural metals inside our own bodies into a form of energy.”

Lance stared at Pidge and arched one brow. She had missed his point entirely, and Keith’s obvious anger only made him wish he never opened his mouth in the first place. “I don’t give a shit about any of that, but forget it.” He muttered and stepped away from both of them and towards the door of the workshop. 

“Hey!” Pidge started after Lance only to have her arm caught by Keith who shook his head. 

“Let him go. It’s a lot to take in, and you’re not going to change his mind.” Keith’s voice barely lifted enough to be carried out of the workshop. “I’ve gotten him involved in something, and he didn’t have a choice. He obviously has a problem with it. We can’t force any of this on him.”

“Ugh. You sound like Shiro when you talk like that.” Pidge turned up her nose. “Even though that’s not what you want to say.”

“It’s the right thing to say.”

Lance stood outside the door and bowed his head, clenching his fists until his knuckles were white. He heard all of it, and he needed to calm himself. He needed to keep his anger down to a level where it wouldn’t cause him to say the wrong thing. He needed to be the Lance Keith seemed to want. The one who smiled. The one who was happy no matter what. The one who never questioned anything even if it seemed wrong. He needed to keep everything else inside. 

He took several steps away from the door and lifted his head to look around. He had spent most of his time here either in the shop, in the workshop, or in Keith’s room. But there was another door he had never been through. One that always remained locked. He stared at it as though his thoughts alone would unlock it. But after a few minutes, he just sighed, his shoulders slumping as he sat on the floor and stared down at his hands in his lap.

“Pidge.” 

Pidge shouldered an eye at the sound of Keith’s voice. He didn’t say it, but the request came through loud and clear. “All right. I’ll go to the bakery or something. Curry Bread?” 

“Curry for Lance. I’ll take melon.”

“Okay.” Pidge left the shop and the two boys were alone again.

“I’m sorry.” Keith sat on the floor. His boots scrapping across the metal squares as he leaned against Lance’s back.

“For what?” Lance closed his eyes and leaned against Keith’s back just enough to let him know he wasn’t so angry that the physical contact was unwelcome. Or at the very least, it wasn’t really him that made Lance angry.

“It’s a lot to take in. And it’s frustrating. And probably feels like I keep hiding things from you. And I did this to you.” Keith relaxed with Lance’s gentle pressure. “Take your pick.”

“It’s none of that.” Lance sighed. “I’m just concerned. You’re getting hurt, and I hate it. And that was just dismissed so easily.” He kept his eyes closed. “I don’t understand a lot of what Pidge said. I don’t know what kinds of questions and answers you have. I just know that you look sick when it happens. And your legs have bruises on them. I know that this…” He motioned to his arm. “Doesn’t hurt, so you thinking it might, even though I said it doesn’t, bothers me.”

“Now you sound like Shiro.” Keith pulled his knees up to his chest. His arms pulling them in close to his chest as he laid his head over his knees. “I know you don’t want to hear that, you don’t like him either.” He closed his eyes now, squeezing his legs. “If you were me and something inside of you did this to people. What would you do?”

“I don’t know.” Lance grimaced at the comparison to Shiro, but he sighed and turned so he was now facing Keith’s back, and he pulled him into his arms, his legs on either side of Keith’s hips, and he pressed his face into his hair. “I don’t know what the right answer is. I just know you’re the one hurting, and that’s the only thing that hurts me.”

“You didn’t see their faces when they first saw the marks. Shiro and Sam. Shiro’s apologized a thousand times for being angry then, but I never faulted him. He was a kid who just lost his dad, and I still did that too him. Sam became colder after I infected his daughter. He hid it well and forgives me now, but his face that day?” Keith screwed his eyes shut. “I don’t want to hurt the people who protect me. I don’t want any one else to suffer.” A long silence filled the room, the ticking of clocks and popping cogs deafening against Keith’s muted voice. 

“I want the tests done. If I can understand it, I can control it and make amends for Shiroganesan and Shiro’s arm. I don’t expect you to understand.” Keith whispered. 

Lance tightened his arms around Keith while he spoke, but when he was done, he shook his head. “You know, for a smart guy, you’re an idiot. But that’s what makes you cute.” He kissed the back of his neck, knowing that it probably wasn’t appropriate, but he needed to get his mind out of whatever dark place it went. “I just want to protect you. I can’t help that. And I’m never going to like it. I’m never going to be okay with you being bruised and fatigued when you don’t have to be treated that way.” He sighed and held Keith just a little closer. There was no way he could actually say all of the things that were going through his mind, not when Keith so clearly blamed himself for events in the past. That he was letting them take advantage of that guilt. So he just remained silent about at least that much.

“Who said I was smart?” Keith bent his head forward, the tail of the lion stretching up from his tattoo and froze in a curve starting around Keith’s neck. “Who is protecting you then?”

“I said you’re smart. You are smart.” Lance nuzzled his neck, his lips brushing over the tip of the tail, though he blinked a bit since it wasn’t there before. “I don’t need you to hurt yourself to protect me. I need you to be with me so we can protect each other.”

“Then we have to do what we can, right?” Keith closed his eyes allowing a shiver to travel through his spine. “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“You have to not be hurt so often. If you’re not going to stop, at least refuse to do it so frequently. You need time to regain your strength.” Lance sighed and held him a little closer, his lips still on his neck, and he nuzzled a little more. “And if you won’t refuse, I will just hold you like this so you can’t leave. You fit too well in my arms for me to just be okay with letting you go. You’re warm, and you smell good, and I won’t share you with anyone.”

“It’s not normally like this.” Keith’s body warmed, and he leaned back, his head resting on Lance’s shoulder as he slid the man’s hands around to hold splay over his stomach. “If he asks again, I’ll refuse and make sure we’re all there to ask whatever questions you want to ask. Will that work for now?” 

“If you promise.” Lance closed his eyes and just pressed his face into Keith’s hair. “Not without me, at least. I need to at least feel like I’m doing well by you.”

Keith’s heart fluttered and he curled his fingers into Lance’s. “You really love me, don’t you? I never knew it could feel like this.” 

“Yeah. This really is how it feels, and I’ve never felt like this about anyone else before.” Lance whispered and just held Keith like that, not caring that they were on the floor. “I’m sorry for getting so angry.”

Keith adjusted his head into the crook of Lance’s neck. He inhaled his scent and exhaled it in a slow breath with tiny kisses over his dark skin. His long lashes brushing lightly against the tiny hairs. “It’s fine. I’m sorry too.”

“Okay. Then should we get off the floor, or should we stay down here?” Lance did his best not to groan at the nuzzle and kisses against his neck.

“Depends on you. I’m only here because you are.”

“I’m only still down here because you came to sit with me.” 

“You’re comfortable, but the floor is not.” Keith whimpered as he straightened his legs, and with a disgruntled groan he got up. His stomach level with Lance’s head when he turned around. “Upstairs then?” He leaned down and pulled the stick out of his hair in the same motion. An ebony curtain cascaded down over Lance’s face. “It’s more comfortable up there.”

Lance found himself staring up at Keith, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. He was mesmerized, as though the raven threads that fell around his face hypnotized him. After a moment, he snapped out of it and nodded. “Oh, yeah, we should.” Lance slowly got to his feet and rubbed his backside a bit, dusting it off, but also patting some feeling back into it. 

Keith leaned in to him from behind, grinning to the side of his lips and showing his fang while his hands replaced Lance’s. “Need a massage?”

“If you’re offering, I won’t say no. Your hands always feel good.” Lance groaned out the words and chuckled, already feeling a lot better.

“Is that so?” Keith rested his chin on his shoulder happy the mood had lifted considerably. “You’re just easy to please.”

“Or maybe I just really like it when you touch me. And the idea of you touching me puts me in a better mood immediately.” Lance looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Like I said. You’re too easy.” Keith slipped away from him with a kiss then a slide of a his finger over Lance’s jaw. 

“Oh? So you would be fine with me still being angry even when you’re touching me?” Lance turned a little to look at him, one brow lifting. 

“What? No. I’m just glad I don’t have to work too hard at it. You wore me out yesterday, so I’m feeling a bit lazy today. Are you still angry?”

Whatever joking line Lance had ready to go was killed dead. Instead he blinked and lifted his hand to Keith’s cheek. “No, I’m not still angry, but are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“Eh?” Keith’s eyes went wide, and his cheeks flushed at the speed of Lance’s concern. His sheepish gaze shifted off to the side. “I-I’m okay. You didn’t hurt me.”

Keeping his hand on Keith’s cheek, Lance leaned in and kissed his lips. “Okay, but if you don’t feel right, you’ll tell me, won’t you? I would be a mess if I ever hurt my Kitten.”

“I promised no more lies or secrets. Right?” Keith kissed Lance’s palm then each pad of his finger. “Even with this.”

“Yeah.” Lance smiled a little. “But if you ever feel like you can’t do it, just tell me and you can do that to me instead.” His cheeks reddened, but he smiled. It was a lot to offer, but he meant it.

“Eh?” Keith blinked his face getting redder by the second. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Of course he hadn’t. Until last night Keith didn’t even know how two men could have sex and Lance really seemed to enjoy himself. “I’d like try it. I want to know what it feels like.”

Lance kissed him again and touched his hand. “Then we should. I’d do anything for you.”

Keith’s head darted around the shop. “Like right now? Pidge will be back soon. And –“

“What? No not right now. I have to go see Hunk at Shay’s soon or he’s going to kill me.” Lance laughed and shook his head. “You’re cute, you know that?”

Keith’s lip came out and his arms crossed over his chest. “I didn’t do anything to be called that. How was I supposed to know when you meant? You have to leave? I thought we were… gonna go ‘upstairs’?” The pout became more prominent. 

“Oh? So you don’t want me to call you that? Ever? Even when it’s true? Even when your reaction to it is just as cute?” Lance grinned at him. Then he took Keith’s hands so he could uncross his arms. “And it’s cute that you meant something very sexy with that, but I definitely don’t want Hunk barging in the next time we start to do it hm?”

“Argh. I’m not cute!” Keith pushed Lance back with his foot against the taller man’s hip. “Get outta here already if you gotta go.” He turned on his heel, arms folded over his chest and his back to the other man. The act only lasted a second. “You’ll be back later?”

“I said soon, not now, but I’ll go if you want me to go.” Lance leaned in and whispered into the back of his ear. “And of course I’ll be back. I can’t sleep alone anymore. Can you?”

“Nnn.” Keith’s head leaned toward Lance’s voice, his eyes closing as he a breathy ‘no’ left his lips. He lifted those darker flirty eyes up to his lover. “I’ll see you when you get in.”

“You will.” Lance kissed him before he slid past him, his hand moving over Keith’s back before he was completely away and headed towards the door.


	11. Ominaeshi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ EXPLICIT~~~** Please look for the ~~~~~~ in the chapter, this marks the start and stop of explicit content. 
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Golden Lace** _Ominaeshi 女郎花_ \- Beauty, Wild Love, Kindness 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

“I don’t know what’s going on with you anymore!” On a list of personality traits Shiro had, one would be hard pressed to find ‘yelling’. Known for being calm and collected, he rarely lost his temper, unless it had to do with Keith. Rare as it was, his concern for the young charge often came out in emotional outbursts when pushed, and right now Keith had pushed every last button the man had. He glared down at the disinterested man as he sat on the couch, flipping through a magazine he’d read a thousand times. 

“I’ve been telling you everything, this whole time. You just don’t like what you’re hearing.” Keith lounged back, the couch protesting the shift with a creak. 

“You’re right! I don’t. You brought him down to the slums. He is with the United States Army. There are women and children down there, Keith! What will happen if he reports everything back to his superiors? Hm? What then? Do you know what will happen to those people?” Shiro stepped closer to Keith.

“He’s not like that. I’ve been trying to tell you. Damn it Shiro. He wouldn’t blab to anyone.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. He’s not the problem!” Shiro retorted with a swipe of his hand. Keith’s head cocked to the side, acknowledging the gesture he used a few days ago in the work room. 

“Then what is it?”

“What will happen to him if they find out? Do you know the risk you put him through? Or did that not cross your mind? He’s a solider, Keith. There are rules. Do you know what they do to deserters? Or traitors? It’s considered treason. What happens to people who commit treason? They get tortured and killed. They might not know about our activities now, but give it time. Lance is a good guy, but how much do you think he can endure before he talks?” 

Keith froze, his fingers clutching the edge of his magazine. “I’d rescue him. We’d have to rescue him. If anything like that happened. We’d save him.”

“That’s your answer?” One thick eye brow arched up on Shiro’s forehead, the white tuff of hair bristling.

“It’s the only one I got!” Keith stood up, slapping the zine down on the coffee table.

“That’s not good enough, Keith!” 

“It will have to be! I’d march into that base and tear it to the ground if I had to! He’s one of us Shiro!” Now it was Shiro’s turn to freeze. He stared at Keith, noting the flushed cheeks below fiery eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean! He’s marked with blue.” Keith didn’t want to explain things out of anger, but Shiro left him no other options.

“You didn’t… you did?”

“Of course I did! I’m allowed to have an adult relationship with someone I like! You have relationships with women you barely know!” Keith stood up. 

“Keith…” Shiro’s tone warned.

“What did you think was going to happen? Honestly! You keep me caged up! I’m not a child! I can choose how I want to have my relationships and with who, just like everybody else! He didn’t hate me. He didn’t hit me, he didn’t drag me out and announce my ‘freakishness’ to the world. He didn’t care, Shiro. You were wrong about everything!”

“Keith, you’re not like everybody else.”

“Because I’m-“ 

“No!” Shiro cut Keith off before he could play the sexuality card on him. “No. It’s because of what you can do. The people around you end up changed.” Shiro closed his eyes testing his words but knowing he had to say them anyway. “You take too many risks. Risks that involve people other than yourself. You’re selfish Keith. Were you that desperate to get la-“ With a crack, Shiro’s face jerked to the side, stars spinning for a second before he turned his eyes back to Keith’s rage reddened face and burning red violet eyes. 

“What the hell Shiro?” Keith kept his voice low and slow, each syllable expressing a tight control. “You talk about not knowing me anymore? Have you looked at yourself? You’re so caught up in what the Old Man has going on. You look like shit, you’re not sleeping, and you’re acting like an asshole. Fuck it. Get someone else to yap at your heels and to do your shadow work. I’m done.”

Shiro stood there in stunned silence. His hand touching his jaw as Keith stormed past him, slamming every door from his apartment and out of the shop.

 

Keith didn’t know what led him here, but he sat inside the army base behind a row of growing shrubbery, hidden by the guard towers. He jumped the wall and infiltrated the main sections with ease, having remembered the layout from a glance he’d taken of it in one of Shiro’s work books. He knew where the barracks should be, but the opposite side of the wall was as far as Keith got. He didn’t know which building Lance stayed in, but he wanted to see him. He needed to see him. So he crouched and waited, hoping for any sign of the dark skinned man. 

“No one’s here.” Hunk had been walking back from another day at Shay’s when he spotted Keith ducking between bushes by the wall and trying to peek at buildings. Keith was pretty good at hiding, but no one was perfect, and at some point when he slipped between shrubs, he was exposed. That’s when Hunk saw him, and he was glad that he was the one who did. Anyone else would have chased him all around. “Looking for Lance? He’s not in our barracks right now, not that you’d find him if he was.” Hs stood in front of Keith’s current hiding spot, one brow arched.

“H-Hunk!” Keith straightened slipped himself against a wall and into the shadows. “H.. hi! I was just.. um.. no? Where is he?”

“I’ll take you to him.” Hunk smiled and pulled his cap off his head, resting it on Keith’s, and he looked at him for a moment before he he pulled his jacket off and draped it over his shoulders. “He’ll be excited to see you. He’s been talking about wanting to see you all day.”

“He was? He will? He won’t be mad?” Keith put on the clothing offered by Hunk, drowning in the oversized jacket and the hat sunk over his eyes, leaving him blind until he tilted his head back. He thought for sure this would make him stand out more, but he trusted Hunk. “Thanks.”

“No way would he be mad.” Hunk started to walk, knowing Keith would follow him. “The dude’s so in love with you, he was depressed all day because he didn’t know when he’d be done with his work. He’ll light up like a Christmas tree when he sees you.” He walked past the rows of barracks and towards several large warehouses.

Hunks gushing heated Keith’s cheeks. “I’ve never seen a Christmas tree.” 

“No? Well they’re all bright and sparkly.” Hunk stopped outside one of the warehouses and pulled a set of keys from his pocket, quickly unlocking the three locks before he opened the door and let him in. The warehouse looked a lot bigger on the outside than it appeared, but that was due to all the boxes crammed against walls and stacked in the middle of the floor. Off to the left was the district sound of humming. “Lance, buddy?” Hunk called out for his friend as he shut and locked the door behind them. The humming stopped.

“Hunk? I’m in section D.”

“Okay.” Hunk silently waved for Keith to follow him through the maze of boxes, stopping when they reached the appropriate section.

Lance had a notebook in hand, some words hastily scrawled, others crossed out. He was humming again as he checked the contents of the open crate in front of him. 

“Hey.” Hunk spoke, lowering his voice. “Anyone else come in after I left earlier?”

“Nope. You’re the only one who’s unlocked the door since then, but no one else would come in anyway.” Lance turned and looked over his shoulder at his friend, but then his eyes widened. “Keith? What? How did you get in here? Oh man! I’m glad you’re here!” He was practically hopping on his toes.

Keith waved a shy hand. “H-hi.” He stepped out of Hunk’s shadow, pulling at the long sleeves of his jacket as he stumbled over a piece of plywood, the hat falling over his face and forcing him to push it up again. “Can I stay with you a few days?”

Lance stared at Keith for a moment before he walked up to him, took Hunk’s cap and jacket off him, and threw them at his friend a little more harshly as than he needed to, a pout on his lips. “He’s not as big as you! How inconspicuous were you trying to be?” He took Keith’s hand and pulled him towards one of the crates. “Of course you can stay with me, but you need to wear something else.” He dug through a pile of uniforms and held one up to Keith, pursing his lips before pulling out another one and nodding. “This should fit you.”

“Okay?” Keith looked around the store house, picking up on a few random scents. Spices, dust, soap, and moth balls mixed with cedar. It curled his lip and wrinkled his nose a little. He didn’t dislike the smell, but it wasn’t what he’d expect from an army storage room. The armory must have been located elsewhere and this whole building was dedicated to the softer necessities of life. 

He pointed behind a few crates hugging the jacket to himself. “Should I change back there?”

Lance nodded. “Hunk won’t look. I might, but he won’t.” He smirked a little.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before. It can’t be that interesting.” Keith walked behind a stack army certified stamped crates as he pulled his shirt over his head, not seeming to be bothered by the clear view he gave other two of his back until he disappeared behind a stack. 

Keith appeared moments later looking stiff and uncomfortable. His shoulders shimmied inside the starchy shirt and the jacket fit snug across his chest, highlighting the broadness of his male form and the narrowing slopes of his sides. The boots fit like a pair of metal weights, clunking heavily on the floor as he walked. 

“Better?” Keith asked as he pulled his hair from the collar and letting fan around his shoulders.

Hunk made it a point to announce that he was turning around and not looking. Even though Lance stood between him and Keith and purposely blocked any view the other man could have had. But once it was done, Lance took Keith’s hand and grinned at him. “Much. Now you don’t have to worry about drowning in his clothes.”

Hunk ahemed and looked at the two of them. “So, I’m going to go. It’s probably better if I don’t come back to the bunk tonight?”

Lance chuckled a little. “I’m not going to keep you out of the room, but if you choose not to come back, that’s your decision."

“Something the matter?” Keith cocked his head and eyed the other two with a touch of scrutiny, hopping up it sit one of the crates.

“Nope!” Hunk laughed, but after a moment he took a step back. “I do have some stuff to do on base though, so I can’t stay out tonight anyway. We can have a sleepover!” Another laugh. “I’ll see you two lovebirds later hm?” With that, he turned and walked out of the warehouse.

Lance looked at Keith once Hunk was gone. “So, what happened that made you come here?”

“I think I ran away from home.” Keith answered with a sheepish shrug of his shoulders. His hands folded between his legs when his arms came to rest across his knees. “I let Shiro in on everything. He didn’t take it well. I know I picked a bad time, but he just started spouting that same stuff he always does, and I just got mad. We said some stuff and…” Keith let out a long breath. “He said I could get you in a lot of trouble. He doesn’t think you’ll willingly turn us in, but he says they’ll torture you if they find out.”

Lance watched Keith as he spoke, but then he leaned in and wrapped his arms around him, shaking his head. “They won’t kill me. I’m not actually doing anything that they can find wrong. I’m not saying anything to them, but I’m also not stealing secrets and giving them away either. I don’t have to rat you out. I just have to watch. And if my findings happen to say that they’re wrong, then what are they going to do? They’ll just think I’m a bad spy. I’m not actually doing anything against the army, at least not anything they’d ever be able to prove. Being with you isn’t treason.” 

Lance couldn’t keep the grimace from his expression as he spoke, though. He knew Shiro hated him, so it didn’t sit well with him that the older man seemed to be concerned about what would happen to him. Something felt off about it. “Besides, I have a project in the works that can only make the Army look good, so my bosses won’t do a damn thing to me.”

“Oh?” Keith laid his cheek against the top of Lance’s head, closing his eyes and drowning happily in the coconut and ocean fragrance of his hair. He needed this. It was why he came here in the first place. Lance’s warmth. Lance’s embrace. Lance’s feel against his body. He kissed the short threads, his hand massaging the back of his neck at the same time. “You do?”

“Yup!” Lance kept himself close to Keith, but pulled his head back to nod to some open crates. “See all these? The army won’t use old uniforms, clothes, blankets, pillowcases. Everything is clean, and most of it is completely unused, but they’re out of commission. Wrong color. Wrong sizes. Normally they just bring all this down to the incinerator every so often, but…” He grinned and leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper even though they were alone. “I convinced my bosses that the best way for me to gather information was to befriend the people, especially the neediest people.” He straightened up.

“So, all decommissioned clothing is being repurposed. All the patches and identifying needlework is being removed, but all of these are being donated to the people who need them, and Hunk and I are the ones doing it.”

“Lance,” Keith looked around at the crates on the floor. In their raids, the small band would be lucky to get away with one or two. Lance had several times what they could do and without the violence. “They’re really okay with that?” He hopped down from his perch, being careful of Lance’s toes, and peered inside one. Clothing, dry food, blankets, first aid kits, enough to supply the slums and then some. In one motion he threw himself back into Lance’s arms. “How long have you been working on this!? You’re amazing!”

“Since the day you showed me.” Lance felt himself puff up a bit as he wrapped his arms around Keith. “And when I told Hunk about it, not all the stuff about the shipment of course, just what they wanted me to do, and what I planned on actually doing, he wanted in. He collects all the leftover food from the mess hall, the supposedly unusable stuff, and he brings it to Shay’s. They cook some pretty good meals for those kids. They’re getting meat now and not just rice and the rare vegetable.”

“Lance, I…” Keith stared up at Lance. Never had anyone in all of Keith’s life appeared more breathtakingly beautiful. “You’re a hero.” He whispered as lifted up on his toes and kissed him. Lance’s lips were soft and tasted faintly of something sweet with a hint of something medicinal. “Mmm…” Keith ran his tongue over his bottom lip, wanting more of it.

Lance wasn’t expecting that, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain. So he kissed Keith back, matching his passion, his land lifting to gently cup Keith’s cheek. “I don’t need to be a hero to anyone but you.”

Keith turned his head into his hand, kissing his palm and then his wrist. “You just keep making me fall harder and harder.”

“Oh? So you didn’t already love me as much as possible before?” Lance’s breath shook at the kiss to his wrist. “How does that make sense?” He let his fingers brush Keith’s hair before he smiled a little at the smitten man in front of him. Had Keith ever looked at him with so much adoration before? Would he do it again? Lance wasn’t sure, but he was going to bask in that soft expression as long as possible.

“Does it have to?” Keith’s lips moved with a feather’s touch down the inner flesh of his arm. He learned the move from Lance, and it was maddening when the man did it to him. He mimicked the ministration with an added flick of his tongue.

“Well, no” Lance breathed out the words as more of a moan, but he managed to keep himself steady. “And you’re okay? Even though you argued with Shiro before you came here?” 

“I’m here with you. I’m okay now.” Keith stepped into Lance and nestled his face into his neck, letting the world melt away from him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Lance murmured into Keith’s hair. “So did you argue with him because he dislikes me? If he doesn’t trust me? Do you agree with him on any of it?” He held Keith a little closer. 

“He’s not himself. He’s not sleeping. I don’t think he’s even aware what he’s saying.” Keith kissed over Lance’s neck. “He doesn’t hate you, he seemed to be worried. He’s always worried about everything, but if he knew what you were doing here he’d be thrilled.”

“Is that it? But he always glares at me” Lance didn’t want to sound so skeptical, especially with those kisses along his neck, but he couldn’t help it. “But it was bad enough for you to run away? So what aren’t you telling me?” His eyes closed. “What can I do to make you feel better?”

“I punched him.” Keith sighed into his neck. “Hard.”

“That’s it?” Lance gently took his hand and checked his knuckles, but then he kissed each one. “He was worried about me so you punched him?”

“When I told him I gave you this,” Keith touched Lance’s sleeve over the lion. “He accused me of being selfish and desperate.”

“I’ll punch him too. You’re not desperate. What a mean thing for him to say.” Lance held Keith and pressed his lips into his hair, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I know I should try to be more understanding, but he wanted you to spy on me, and even though you didn’t…It makes me really reluctant to believe he’s actually worried about me. It sounds more like he’s worried about you, but won’t say it outright.” He felt a twinge in his chest. There was no way Shiro could possibly like him. 

“He’s always worried about me. He’s worried about everyone and everything. One second he doesn’t have time even talk, the next second he’s got in his hands in everything I’m doing. It’s smothering. And he’s right. I was desperate, just not in the way he says. I never needed to love someone. I just wanted to love you. I became desperate for you.” Keith leaned up and nuzzled his lips across Lance’s jaw.

“That’s not desperation, Keith.” Lance’s eyes closed. “That’s normal. Everyone wants to be loved. Desperation is something way different and sounds way worse, right? And he meant it worse. He said it to hurt you, and that’s not okay. I’m glad you punched him. He deserved it. And if I see him, I’ll punch him too. I’m not as good at it as you, but he deserves it.”

“I felt desperate. Do you know how much I wanted to do while I was Keiko? You drove me crazy.” Keith kissed to the point of Lance’s chin.

“But you didn’t force me into anything. You weren’t only with me because you were desperate. You were with me because you love me.” Lance’s head tilted to the side. “Right? Really wanting something isn’t the same as you just giving it up because you’re fine with anyone.”

“Giving it up?” Keith thought about the sentence, his lips pausing. “You mean sex, right?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that what desperate implies? That you’d do it with anyone as long as you get to do it? You did nothing wrong when it comes to loving me, Keith, and that doesn’t make you desperate.”

“Then you’re of the few things I’ve done right... even if you drove me crazy.” 

“I’m okay with driving you crazy. I’m not okay with other people telling you what you’re doing is wrong.” Lance kissed Keith and nuzzled his lips with his own. “You are too good for other people to judge you like that. And I love you.”

“I needed to see you. To hear you.” Keith twirled his fingers into the short hairs on the back of Lance’s neck. “Feel you.”

“Well, I will happily accommodate you.” Lance gently booped Keith’s nose with his own before he pulled his head back a little. “Let me finish with this last crate, then we can go back to the barracks, and we can relax, and I can give you whatever you want, hm?”

“If I don’t want to relax?” Keith licked at Lance’s lower lip and followed it with a nip. He made sure the other man made no mistake about what Keith meant.

“I didn’t say you had to relax, just that we could.” Lance was about to turn when Keith licked and nipped his lip, so he responded with a kiss. “But I do need to do this first, okay?” He pulled away and sorted through the crate and marked a few more things in his notebook, closing the box and scribbling something on the wood on top. “There. Done.” 

“Yeah?” Keith walked up behind his lover, arms curling around his waist as his face nuzzled the back of his neck, kissing the soft flesh. “Are you mine now?”

“I’m always yours. And I always have been.” Lance’s voice was barely a whisper as he suppressed the moan that wanted to escape at that nuzzle and kiss. “Always. Yours. Only for you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where should we go?” Keith continued to kiss the warm flesh letting his lips leave their little praises up to the shell of Lance’s ear. “I can do it anywhere. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s you.”

This time a moan escaped, and Lance felt his cheeks burn. “Um…I mean. We could… “ He whimpered and shifted. “Here?” He wasn’t sure he could make it anywhere else with the attention Keith was paying him.

“In the warehouse?” Keith grinned, watching the side of Lance’s face. “A bit naughty for a solider. Maybe I’m rubbing off on you?” As he spoke he walked his fingers down Lance’s chest, undoing one button at a time.

“Well, we’d have to leave base otherwise. Unless you want Hunk to walk in and see it?” Lance looked at him, eyes half closing as he turned so he could face him and make the process easier. 

“Hmm, he’s already seen you naked plenty of times.” Keith glided his fingers inside Lance’s open shirt as he pressed into him. Swirling them at the small of his back, he dragged one digit up his spine as his other hand slipped down over the curve of his backside squeezing the soft globe with teasing pressure.

“But I don’t want him to see you naked.” Lance kissed him and nipped at his lower lip. “I don’t want anyone else to see you naked.” His words came out in hot puffs of air, laced with a moan. He squirmed just slightly at the attention of Keith’s hands.

“I’m not the one half-dressed right now?” Keith purred after the last kiss. He smirked with a perfectly arched brow as he dropped Lance’s shirt to the floor.

“Well that can be arranged if you want.” Lance reached for the uniform top Keith was wearing. “It would be only fair.”

“You just got me in this.” Keith leaned up and licked at Lance’s chin. “You want me out of it already?” He stepped out of Lance’s reach. Eyes, once unsure and innocent, stared up at Lance now with violet sultry fire under the shadow of his bangs. Bright and teasing.

“I can put you back in it when we’re done you know.” Lance licked his lips and reached out to run his fingers through Keith’s hair. “Unless you want to keep it on? Though we might make a mess of it if you do.” There was something about the way Keith was looking at him that was starting to drive him crazy.

“I want to know what you want.” Keith’s voice did a peculiar thing when he started getting aroused. It became softer, more heavily accented into a lyrical purr. The tone suited his more seductive behavior as he danced his fingertip down over a brown peak. Keith watched in lazy fascination as the flesh reacted to him. At this stage, everything was an experiment to Keith. He wanted to test limits. He wanted to know what Lance liked and what he hated. He wanted to know his own tolerances. Lance made him feel safe enough to figure himself out. 

“Things like this?” Keith flickered his eyes up to catch Lance’s and kept them while he leaned in to lick the budding nub.

Lance bit his lower lip and watched Keith experiment with his touches. He felt the heat come to his cheeks again at the sultry voice that spoke to him, and he gently tugged on that long raven hair. “I want you to understand that I am yours. Any way you want me.” And with that, he arched forward, moaning at the sensations Keith was giving him. He was right. The smaller man before him was definitely a sex kitten. 

The tug tilted Keith’s head back, pulling away from the tortured bud. “That’s an unfair answer. I tell you what I want all the time.” He leaned forward to crush Lance’s lips under his own, hands capturing his lips and inner curve of Lance’s back as he guided him to hop up on the crate. 

“Here.” Keith shouldered off his jacket, leaving him in the dark green button down. “Something to lay on.” He spread the thick cloth out behind him.

“On here?” Lance groaned into each kiss and slid onto the crate as instructed. “Wouldn’t the floor be a little better?” But he kept leaning in to kiss Keith.

Keith kissed Lance with each question the man asked. “Hmm? Would it? What do you want?”

Lance kissed Keith once more before he looked over his shoulder at the crate. “Well, I don’t know. I’ve never done it on a floor or a crate before” He looked at him once more, cheeks red, eyes dark. “Is this how you want me?”

“How I?” Keith blinked. A dawning came to his features as he realized he was pressed between Lance’s legs with his slender hips gripped and pressed back against the crotch of his own pants. “O-oh.”

Lance kissed his lips again, then his cheek. “Oh? You had no idea how you were moving against me?” He grinned. “Was it second nature to you, then, Kitten?”

“I-I...” Keith kissed him back, the sounds of buckles coming undone echoing through the room as he pulled Lance’s tongue into his own mouth, whimpering as he let him take it. “I just started doing what you do to me.” 

Lance pulled Keith closer, his fingers moving to help him remove what remained of their clothing, and he shifted a little on the crate. “Oh? What I do? Well, then,” he whispered, pulling his lover closer to him, his legs at either side of the smaller man’s waist. “If that’s what you want, that’s what I want. Have me.”

Keith gasped, his eyes going wide as he stared at Lance. His hands, now trembling with the thoughts rushing through his head, clammed themselves as the slide over the muscled smooth skin of Lance’s inner thighs. He shuddered. Lance’s soft flesh, his warmth, and the masculine hardness of his body were offered up to Keith’s fledgling embrace. “Are you sure? We’ve never-I’ve never… What if I hurt you?”

“I’m sure, and from the way you moved me, it looks like you really want to.” Lance shifted a little and bent his legs a bit behind Keith in an attempt to urge him closer. “Don’t worry about hurting me, just worry about enjoying me.” One of his hands slid down Keith’s chest and over his stomach, fingers dancing on his skin.

“Mm. I will worry.” Keith leaned in pressing his hardness against Lance’s. “I want you to enjoy it too. You always make sure I’m okay. I want to be good to you.” He dragged his finger over the top of his sex, the pressure adding to the friction of Keith’s movements.

“Nnn, I know.” Lance moaned and tilted his head towards a box of hygiene products next to the crate he was on. “Then you should find something in there that should ease your worries.” His fingers stopped at Keith’s lower abdomen. “Can you reach it, or do I have to let you go?”

“I can reach it.” Keith swallowed again, reaching over to pick up a bottle, but he squinted at the English lettering not sure what was written. “These words are too long. I don’t know what this is? Can I use it?”

Lance looked over at the bottle and nodded. “It’s medicinal. It’s okay to use it.” He let his fingers slide back up Keith’s stomach and over his chest. 

“O-okay.” Keith put the lotion on his fingers and carefully pressed into Lance, watching his eyes for any indication telling him to stop. He had to will his fingers to stop shaking, as he bit down on his lip to demand his own focus.

Lance’s fingers curled against Keith’s chest for a moment. He trembled a little at the intrusion, and his breath shuddered, but he spread his fingers out so his hand laid flat against Keith, and he relaxed. “Keith…” He moaned and his head tilted back a bit. He wanted to encourage him, not worry him.

Keith exhaled a long breath as he came in closer. The long flow of his hair sliding over Lance’s chest as he whispered and kissed him before nuzzling his ear. His finger worked careful strokes, testing the cavern’s restrictions while watching Lance’s face. “Are you okay? Am I hurting you?”

“I’m okay.” Lance wouldn’t tell Keith it was uncomfortable at first. Of course it was. This wasn’t anything he had done before. But Keith needed encouragement, so instead Lance righted himself and looked at his lover, eyes half-closed. His hand slid back down Keith’s chest and stomach, fingers trembling a little as they reached his lower abdomen. “Keep going. Don’t stop, please.” 

“Nng.” Keith groaned into his neck, as his sex twitched against Lance’s. “Okay.” He pushed in another finger as his kissed him again and again. “It’s tight. Very tight and hot, like melting…”

“Y-Yeah.” Lance wrapped his other arm around Keith’s neck and held him close. “You were like that…ah!” He pressed his face into Keith’s hair and closed his eyes. The discomfort was starting to pass, and the pleasure was taking over. “Nnnn…”

“This too?” Keith sucked at the salt of Lance’s skin, while his fingers quested deeper and searched for the one sweet spot to show Lance even one moment of the pleasure he felt being the Cuban’s lover. “Do you feel good?”

“Y-yes…Ah!” Lance moaned into Keith’s hair as he clung to him. “Love me.” He kept trying to relax his body so Keith would feel better about all of this. “Love me, Keith. Ah!”

“I do.” Keith pulled his hand away kissing the corner of Lance’s mouth. “Hold me tighter. It’s going to hurt, so cling to me as hard as you need to.”

Lance nodded, and the hand on Keith’s abdomen moved around his waist and rested on the small of his back. His other arm remained around his neck, and he looked at him, cheeks flushed. “Okay.”

Lining himself up Keith took a shallow breath, kissing Lance again to keep from nibbling his lip. Keith was never the type of person to be described as patient, but right now with Lance’s eyes looking up at him with all the trust in the world, he willed every impulse into silent compliance. With a slow, gentle, even thrust he pushed inside Lance’s welcoming body. The generous amounts of salve he coated both inside Lance and on himself had already absorbed Lance’s heat, making every sensation rippling inside Keith start off as a glorious dissolving touch. Keith molding into Lance, and Lance embracing and cherishing every last part of him. “Lance…” The name came out strangled by stirring emotions.

“Nnn. Keith…” Lance clutched the other man closer to him, riding out the initial spike of pain by focusing on the warmth inside him. Focusing. Breathing. Relaxing as best he could. “M-move a little.” He whispered, his voice wavering. “It’ll feel even better than it does now.”

Keith nodded and hid his face against Lance’s neck. He pulled his hair over one shoulder to keep it out of the way as he started to move with shaky pace. Dark shoulders captured Keith’s moans as he pressed his face down into them. His own back arching up and baring the stark read lion over pale skin. The feline moved and prowled with the tense flexes of Keith’s muscles and came to burning clarity as if it could leap off his very flesh.

Lance trembled, but he did his best to wrap his legs around Keith, encouraging him and responding to each of his thrusts. He clutched at him, his fingers pressing into Keith’s pale back, feeling the heat radiating from his flesh. The blue lion on his shoulder almost seemed to glow in reaction to Keith’s movements, and he could have sworn he heard it roaring in time with his own moans.

“Lance, I… AH!” Keith’s hips sped up and there came a bout of sudden rapid thrusts, his ironclad control waning into nothing but primal need. He arched his head back as his vision blanked, unable to hold back as he emptied his pleasure into Lance, holding his hips still until he finished.

The lion on Lance’s shoulder shifted, and he arched with Keith, his own climax washing over him moments after Keith’s hips began their erratic thrusting. They were in sync, and he could practically feel Keith’s pleasure mingle with his own as he came down from that high, the evidence against their stomachs as Lance clutched the smaller man closer, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry.” Keith whispered into Lance’s ear. “I’m sorry. I.. I was too hard.. I couldn’t stop it.” Keith pulled up enough see his face. He smoothed his hands over Lance’s hips, massaging them as if to soothe a wound he couldn’t see.

Lance’s cheeks were flushed, and his chest still heaved as he evened out his breathing. “If you’re that sorry, was it bad?” The words were soft, and his lower lip jutted out a bit. He shifted, since Keith was still inside him, and whimpered a little. “Don’t apologize.”

Keith shivered with the movement his head bowing forward. “No! It didn’t feel bad. I just don’t want to hurt you.” He kissed him, sucking at his lower lip, distracting himself from the tears wanting to form in his eyes. His lion burned, and his body filled with an pleasurable ache so strong, Keith felt overwhelmed. “You feel so warm and soft. It feels good. E-even now.”

“I’m okay.” Lance whispered and closed his eyes. “If it feels that good are you going to do it again?” He moved his hips just a little. He wanted Keith to know he was loved. He also wanted Keith to get into it again if that’s what he wanted to do. If not, it was going to get uncomfortable for both of them. “I want you.”

“Ah!” Keith let out the tiniest whimper between clenched teeth, and he hunched his shoulders down, his forehead pressing against Lance’s collar bone. “Should I move again?” Even as he asked he hooked his arms around Lance, pulling him in tighter while moving his hips in shallow deep rotations.

“Yes…ah….Please.” Lance arched at those movements, his hand sliding up his back and clutching at his shoulder. His back arched as much as their position would allow him.

Keith moved again. Even, slow, and deep. Lifting his head, his eyes sparkling through a velvet curtain as he watched every expression cross Lance’s face.

Lance looked at Keith, lips parted, cheeks flushed. Each movement caused a soft puff of air or slight moan to escape. “Keith,” he whispered between moans and whimpers, “I love you.”

Leaning in, taking his lips, Keith got faster, finding his stride, and now aiming for the spot his fingers found earlier. “Mmph!”

“Nn!” Lance tried to move himself with Keith, as much as the crate would allow, but it was difficult to do much, so he let Keith move him however he needed. “Ah!” He pulled his head back and moaned. 

“It’s so hot. Lance!” Keith bit the edge of his lip between his canines as he held Lance steady while he rocked them harder together. Their thrusts causing the crate to creak and scrape against the floor as the wood started give.

“Keith! Ah!” Lance clung to him and cried out. The thrusting, the feel of the crate both pressing into his backside and bowing a bit beneath him. It was all too much, and he tightened around him as he came a second time, back bowing, head thrown back. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“AH!” Keith’s climaxing cry joined with Lance’s, his arms holding them together as they finished. He fell against him when it was done before melting down his body and slipping to the floor. He hugged Lance’s leg to his face, desperate to keep contact but unable to stand on his own once his knees folded to the unforgiving cement ground.

Lance almost collapsed off the crate and on top of Keith, and when his vision cleared, he sank to the floor next to him. “Keith, you…” He leaned in and kissed him, licking his lips. ”You’re amazing.”

“Nm?” Keith’s eyes rimmed red, and he clung to Lance, pressing his face against neck. “I’m…Are you okay?” He lifted trembling fingers to Lance’s cheek, tears finally springing hot as he looked him over for any marks he hadn’t meant to leave.

“I’m okay. Really.” Lance kept kissing him, and he rested his hand on the one on his cheek. “Why are you crying? Was it bad? Did you hate it?”

“No. I don’t know why I’m crying.” Keith sniffed, and bowed his head, resting the top of it against Lance’s chest. Crying after sex probably wasn’t manly. Lance never cried afterward, or during. So what was wrong with him? 

“Maybe you’re just feeling a lot and you don’t know how to handle it.” Lance rested his hand in Keith’s hair and stroked it gentle, playing with the dark locks. “And if you didn’t hate it, then that’s good, right? It was new. Neither of us did that before.” He curled over him a little more. 

Keith hugged himself closer to Lance, hiding his face and the wave of embarrassment washing over him for being as exposed as he was. “A-are you okay? Did I hurt you?” His arms tightened. 

“Not any more than I probably hurt you the first time we did it.” Lance shifted so he could pull Keith closer and hold him better. His back was sore, his butt stung a little, and he knew being fucked against a hard wooden crate would leave some bruises on his beautiful bottom, but that was nothing. Not when he had Keith here, not when the smaller man clearly loved him so much he cried after being in him the first time. 

“Yeah, it did hurt a little.” Keith admitted, keeping his voice soft to stifle the tremor in it. “I didn’t mind because was you. I just…” Keith picked up his head and ran this knuckles down the perfect curve of Lance’s cheek. ”I love you.”

Lance shook his head a little. “Then you know how I feel about it.” Lance licked at Keith’s lips before he kissed him. “So yeah, there was a little pain and discomfort at first, but you loved me. You held me. You became me, and to me that’s the most important.”

“Lance.” Keith curled into Lance’s embrace. Lance mastered the art of taking care of people. He knew what to say and how to say it. “Thank you. I wasn’t thinking when I came in here. I needed you. I acted without thinking and you-you just knew.” 

Lance pressed his lips to Keith’s forehead, then his temple, before he nuzzled his ear. “You had an emotional day. You needed to show me your love, and you needed me to love you. That’s all I knew. I would give you anything, Keith. And if it means you show me like that, then that’s what I’ll give you.”

“Damn it.” Keith closed his eyes his tears finally drying up. “I should make you talk in Japanese then you won’t be able to sound so fricking poetic. You know?”

“You would be too embarrassed to be around me if you made me do that.” Lance kissed away that tear. “My pronunciation is horrible. You know that.”

“You’d probably manage to be cute, and that would kill me too.” Keith fake grumbled. “Seriously though. How’s your body? We should get you cleaned up.” 

“It’s fine, or as fine as it can be after that. And we need to wash up because you’re a little messy too, but…” Lance pursed his lips. “The bathing areas aren’t private here. I mean I don’t think anyone will be in there now, since it’s mid-shift, but I don’t know if I want to risk someone else seeing you naked. Of course, seeing you at all would be bad, since you’re not supposed to be here.”

“So, people see you naked all the time, is what you’re telling me.” Keith quirked an eyebrow up at Lance. “Do you think you’re the only one who’s ever seen me?” 

“In my own world, yes. I want to think I’m the only one who’s seen you.” Lance shook his head a little before he slowly got to his feet, but his lower lip stuck out as he looked down at Keith. “I know it’s not true, and it makes me jealous as hell, but….”

“Shhh.” Keith stood and pressed his finger to Lance’s lips. “Just keep in mind, I’m not a girl. Not every guy I come across is going to throw themselves at my feet because I take a shower with them. There are public bathhouses all over Japan.” Keith avoided them due to the Lion etched into his skin, but he believed his point still had a leg to stand on.

“I know why it’s not a good idea. Your jealousy aside.” He motioned his chin toward his tattoo. “It won’t be good if it’s seen.” There was a long second before he pulled his hair into a bun, and shoved Lance’s pencil in to keep it up. 

“I mean, that’s true. I wasn’t even thinking about the tattoo, so I should have. I mean all I want to do is throw myself at you when I see how sexy you are.” Lance shook his head a little and rested a hand on his own lower back, rubbing it a bit. “Regardless, I would rather go off base and find some place to clean up. We can get something to eat, too.”

“Off base? Where can we go? I don’t want to go home.” Keith put the borrowed shirt on, and pulled his pants up, turning toward Lance and handing him the one he dropped to the floor. Lance’s pants hooked over his arm. 

Lance took his uniform from Keith and shrugged slightly. “Shay’s. She’ll let us use her place to clean up. And Hunk would probably be so excited if we ate there.”

“Okay. And you’re okay to walk?” Keith stepped up to Lance, helping him button up his shirt and fixing his collar while his own remained open. 

“Yeah.” Lance finished pulling his uniform on, fixing the crates and taking that used bottle of medicinal lotion. “I should be fine. It’s not too far.” He looked at Keith and reached out buttoning up more of that shirt. “There. You’re too sexy for anyone else to see if you leave that open.”

Keith captured Lance’s hand the second it started to pull away and brought it up to his lips, kissing each finger then his palm. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lance leaned in and kissed Keith’s cheek. “Let’s go before it gets too late?”

“So I look passable enough to get out?” Keith straightened up a little and cocked his head to the side. Sneaking one person into a heavily fortified base was far easier than sneaking two people out, so if Lance thought he still stood out too much, there was always option two. Women came and went on the base often enough. They either worked in the mess halls, laundry, or if they were young enough and pretty enough they were brought to generals for entertainment. 

“Of course. But if you’re worried about it, we can carry some of the smaller boxes, which will just hide you a little more.” Lance looked at him and tapped his nose.

Keith’s eyes crossed. “I’m okay. If you think we can make it.”

“Yes, we can make it.” Lance tugged on Keith’s hand a bit and took deliberate steps towards the warehouse door. “I really am ok. I’m sure I’ll be sore in a bit, but I can at least walk where we need to go.”

“Okay.” Keith folded his fingers into Lance’s holding them tight until they stepped out of the warehouse. “Lead the way.”

Lance walked slowly, but he led Keith between buildings and by walls until they were out of the facility. Once that was done, he let out a sigh of relief and gave Keith a little smile. “There.”

“That bad huh? I didn’t really think before I came here.” Keith touched Lance’s cheek. “I’m putting you out.” 

Lance nuzzled the fingers against his cheek before he quickly kissed them and took Keith’s hand, pulling it into his jacket pocket so he could hold it as they walked towards the restaurant. “It’s not really putting me out, it’s just difficult given how tense everything has been lately, but there are worse things you could have done. Having the uniform helps a lot, and me having some more freedom than before helps even more.”

Keith watched Lance’s lips as if every action awed him into silence and he nodded his head.

Lance kept holding his hand on his pocket as they walked through the door of Shay’s restaurant. She started her usual welcome, but she laughed a bit when she saw the two of them. 

“Hunk just went into the kitchen to cook up something for the kids if you’re looking for him.”

Lance shook his head. “We were hoping we could borrow your bathing room. We were going through some things in the warehouse at the base and got a bit dirty, but Keith can’t use the showers there.” He smiled a little. 

Shay looked at them, eyes lighting up. “Oh! Of course!” She handed Lance a key. “When you’re done, maybe you can help Hunk bring the food out?”

“Definitely. Thanks.” Lance squeezed Keith’s hand as he started towards the locked door that led upstairs.

Keith scoped the place out as he stepped in behind Lance, he nodded his head in greeting to Shay and hurried after his lover. He knew that she knew just by looking at them, and Keith felt his embarrassment on the back of his neck.

Lance unlocked the door and carefully pulled it open before he finally let go of Keith’s hand to allow the smaller man to step in the stairwell before him. He nuzzled his cheek a bit once they were both through the doorway, and he closed and locked the door behind them. Without saying a word, he took Keith’s hand again and led him up the stairs, into the darkened room that was Shay’s living space. It was small, but it was the kind of cozy, homey place expected of a chef, and the smell of meat and vegetables from the kitchen below filled the room.

Lance set the key down on the table, letting go of Keith’s hand once again to take off his jacket. He looked over at the smaller man and smiled sheepishly, lifting his hand to touch his cheek once his jacket was off. “This is okay right?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Keith kissed Lance’s fingers and pulled off his clothes, folding it on to the table. The tattoo shinning with a subtle glow in the darken space. Shay was never into the latest and greatest. Her upstairs apartment still depended on oil lamps and stove heating, while the shower hooked into the kitchen piping down stairs and always remained hot and ready for use.

“To save water, we should go together.” 

“No complaints here. But we should also make sure we didn’t smear on the uniforms too badly hm? If we need tom we could probably clean them while we’re in there.” Lance walked into the bathroom and looked around the small room. Functional. That was all Shay seemed to need, and he tested the faucets before he started to pull his shirt and pants off, each movement slow since his back was a bit stiff, and he could feel the bruises forming on his backside, but he tried to make it look a bit deliberate to show himself off to Keith. 

“You know,” Keith frowned, sliding in behind Lance and touching his fingers to those hateful marks. “I didn’t think you’d bruise like that.” Keith didn’t remember Lance leaving any marks on his body. He nuzzled into Lance’s shoulder allowing his hands to slide back down to his shoulders. Keith loved Lance’s warm skin. He never wanted to do anything to hurt it. He loved how soft it felt under his fingertips and how it molded and shifted perfectly over the masculine hardness of his body. He knew he could hold Lance as tightly as he needed to and he wouldn’t break, wouldn’t bruise, part of the pleasures of having a male lover. At those had been his thoughts. Looking at Lance now, twisted the guilt inside his stomach. He had been brash and selfish, and Lance now paid for it.

“I’m sorry.” Keith bowed his head into Lance’s shoulder.

“Why? I enjoyed it. It doesn’t hurt, I just have a soft butt, and it’s not used to being pressed and thrust repeatedly against a hard crate. You’d probably bruise if I did you like that too. Next time you want me like that, let’s do that on a bed hm? I’m really okay.” Lance chuckled, and he suppressed a shiver at Keith’s gentle touches. Each little caress was sending heat down to the one place he needed to remain calm right now. “If this wasn’t Shay’s place, I would push you against the wall and ravage you, but we do have to keep some sense of decorum, don’t we?”

“Why?” Heat and simple innocence fueled Keith’s question. “Everyone obviously knows. What are we hiding?” A hint of bitter pride touched the edges of His voice, remembering his earlier embarrassment. If they all knew, why did he have to be so damn shy?

“It’s not about hiding. It’s because it’s rude to fuck in someone else’s shower.” Lance looked at him and grinned. “Or are you just that into me you don’t care?”

“I am.” Keith looked up from where he pressed kisses to Lance’s back.

Lance groaned and shivered with the kisses. “Nnn. Keith. You’re tempting me on purpose aren’t you? Hunk will never forgive me if we do it here, even though I really want to.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Keith blew against Lance’s ear. “I’m selfish and stubborn." He watched the goose bumps rise up in his skin, then used his tongue to soothe them away. 

“And I love you for it.” Lance looked over his shoulder and smiled at him. “Be selfish with me. Tell me everything you want, and I will get it for you. I’m selfish too. I want to take you. I want to do it until neither of us can move. I just don’t want to be a bad guest.”

“Now who’s tempting who?” Keith stepped in again and checked his hip to push Lance further into the shower. “You know what I want. I make no secrets about it.” Keith placed a light kiss to a tiny sweet spot he knew to be located on the back of Lance’s neck while letting his fingers followed the crease of a love line down and around Lance’s inner thigh, but never touching anything more.

Lance couldn’t stop the moan that escaped his lips. “You’re going to make me break my resolve, Kitten.” He murmured, and lowered his hand to grip Keith’s wrist. “When did you get to be so naughty?”

“When I found out it turns you on.” Keith’s smirk curved against Lance’s neck. He’d behave if Lance wanted him to, but he’d have to convince Keith he wanted him to.

“Everything about you turns me on.” Lance gently brushed his fingers over the underside of Keith’s wrist. “But for now, we need to behave. We’ll sneak back into base, we can mess around, and we can will find a time when no one else is going to go in the shower if we need to.” Lance closed his eyes and ducked his head a little. “I just don’t want to risk someone reporting you.”

“Yeah.” Keith shuddered at the attention Lance paid him. “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. And I should have gone somewhere else but, you were the first place I thought of.” He took his arm back and lathered soap up in his hands. “Close your eyes.”

“You absolutely shouldn’t have gone somewhere else. Always come to me first.” Lance kept his eyes closed, a little smile coming to his lips. “Always. I will keep you safe.”

“And now I’ve set myself up as someone who needs protection.” Keith washed his hair, dowsing it slowly with water. “Though, strangely. It doesn’t bother me to be spoiled by you.” He moved to clean his neck and chest.

“Well no.” Lance’s eyes remained closed as Keith washed his hair, and he opened his eyes once it was safe to do so. He ruffled Keith’s hair before he started to clean it for him, whispering for him to close his eyes before he continued. “But I know the Army. I know how they work. And that’s at least one thing I can do for you.”

“Lance.” Keith blushed a little bit, lowering his eyes. “I’ll show you all my weaknesses so you’ll have to help me.” Keith knew Lance well enough by to know the man had insecurities. He never felt good enough or strong enough or smart enough. Keith didn’t believe any of it, but when he saw an opportunity to lift Lance up, he took it. Even if it meant sacrificing his own pride. 

“I trust you.”

“I won’t ever do anything to betray your trust. You’re the only one who seemed to believe in me when I needed it most. And I trust you, too.” Lance finished washing his hair. He kissed his forehead and closed his eyes, holding him close. “I trust you more than I trust myself.”

“How does that work?” Keith stretched and reached over to shut the water off, stepping out and drying himself off and handing Lance a towel.

Lance took the towel and slowly dried himself off. “I don’t know. I just do. There are times when I think I probably make stupid decisions. And I do doubt myself more than I should. But I don’t doubt you. You’re unwavering.”

Keith blinked and straightened his back. His hair wrapped up in the towel as he gently squeezed the water from it. “You shouldn’t doubt yourself. If it’s something that feels right, then go with it. You’re a good person Lance. You have a good heart. Even I can tell that much.” He let the towel drop to the floor as he reached up to cup Lance’s cheek. He graced his thumb under His cerulean eyes.

“You’ve helped me in more ways than I know how to count. When I lied to you, took advantage you, or abused your kindness like I did tonight, you never saw the negative in the things I did. And you’ve never condemned me or hated me because of it. You’re always open and warm, and I can’t help myself when I’m around you.”

“Eh?” Lance took Keith’s hand and held it to his cheek. “Well yeah, you lied to me, and you took advantage of me, but that was a different situation right? We talked about that, and you did nothing wrong. It wasn’t your fault.” He turned his head and kissed his palm. “And you’ve never abused my kindness in any way. Nothing you’ve done is wrong. So you don’t have to think I think bad things because you haven’t done anything bad. I love you, Keith. I want to do things for you because I like seeing you smile.”

“See. When you act like this, how can I possibly do anything but love you?” Keith blushed. Nothing mattered to him right now. If he could just stand here and look into those perfect beautiful eyes, he could be happy for the rest of his life. Shiro, Sam, lab tests, tattoos, whatever, none of it mattered. He had his own world in this tiny borrowed bathroom. 

“Why would you want to do anything else but love me?” Lance grinned and kissed Keith once before he finished drying off and started pulling his pants on, slowly, as the soreness in his hips was starting to become a bit of a pain. “I don’t want to do anything but love you, so that would make us even, and I like us being even.”

Keith picked up on that subtle shift in Lance’s movements and he moved in to help him finish dressing, kissing him once on each cheek. “I’m content with that.”

“Just content? Not happy?” Lance shifted once his pants were on and he checked the shirt as Keith helped him with it. It was clean, surprisingly, but he wouldn’t complain. “We should go downstairs hm?”

“I am happy. I get to see your stupid face every day.” Keith kissed the tip of Lance’s nose before letting his shirt slip from his fingers. “Lead the way. It’s your show from here.”


	12. Bluebell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated PG-13~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Bluebell** _ブルーベル_ \- Humility and unchanging feelings 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

Lance shifted and did his best to keep most of his weight off his backside and on his thighs as sat at the counter and watched Hunk finish up the last of the cooking. As usual, the larger man had a huge grin on his face, one which seemed to brighten every time Shay walked into the kitchen and whipped up something for a paying customer. “How much food did we get this time?” He asked after watching them for a moment. As he did, he gently took Keith’s hand and squeezed it. This was something the other man needed to see. Keith needed something good right now, well, something good that didn’t involve him claiming Lance on top of a crate in a warehouse. 

“There was a whole extra box of vegetables, so enough for all of them, including the parents. The rice Shay was able to get definitely helps.” Hunk beamed.

“Well I get discounts on that, and since pretty boy here told me to buy enough to feed a small army at his expense, I got an even bigger discount.” She grinned at Lance and Keith before she hip checked Hunk. “But since there’s so much food, you boys gotta help him hand it out today. Consider it thanks for using my shower.”

Lance nodded and let go of Keith’s hand just as Hunk held out a box. He stood and took the box in his arms. The warmth of the hot meals radiated through the wood, and he shifted it to make it comfortable. He could smell the sautéed vegetables and roasted meat, and it made his stomach rumble. He laughed even as his ears reddened.

“I’ll have some food ready for you when you three get back.” Shay’s smile was infectious, it seemed, since Hunk had the same one on his face as he handed a similar box to Keith. 

Keith sat at the ‘U’ shaped bar, chin in hand as he watched the chefs busy themselves. The savory mix of scents wafting to his nose reminding him of the appetite he worked up throughout the day. He couldn’t remember if he ate, or if his last meal had been sometime yesterday. He shook the hunger away and distracted himself by counting the cans and jars of preserved and pickled goods lining the walls.

“Is there anything more I can do?” Keith asked, hugging the box to his chest. The warmth joining the swell of gratitude emanating from his stomach and stronger than any hunger he currently felt.

“Carry that.” Hunk grinned at him as he carried two boxes towards the back door. He nodded for the others to follow him into the alley behind the restaurant. “When Lance told me about things, he mentioned the kids and their parents, and how a lot of them looked like they were malnourished, which makes sense right?” He glanced over his shoulder at them before he started walking. “And he wanted to get them some good food, said he’d pay for everything, but the army wastes so much you know? They can’t use so-called outdated food even if it’s totally fine. If vegetables are one day too old, they get thrown out. So Lance annoyed the bosses about it and formed this community outreach program. It makes the army look good, so they’re fine with us doing whatever we want.” He turned down another alley and stopped just before stepping out onto the street.

Lance stopped behind Hunk and looked over at Keith. “Hunk’s really good at making a little food go a long way. And he makes vegetables taste good for the kids.” He shrugged. “And it gives us both something to do that’s worth it, so I have time to make up some stuff if they ask me any questions about my new job.” 

“And you won’t get into trouble for any of this?” Keith hopped out the door and onto the street, his large eyes appearing too childlike and trusting as he gazed up at the army men. He noticed Shay’s tender smile.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that look in your face.”

“What look?” Keith cocked his head. 

“Never mind.” Shay pet Keith’s hair, leaving him bewildered.

“Nope. I specifically worded my proposal and report in a way that keeps us out of trouble, even if we stole something. I may not be much good for active combat duty anymore, but I can twist an idea around so they think it’s good.” Lance’s shoulders shifted as he set the box down. He rubbed his right arm and moved it. “Man you should have told me I was going to be carrying something today. I would have made sure to grab the brace. I wasn’t lifting anything all day, so it’s on my dresser.” It was as good an excuse as any. He wasn’t about to tell Hunk why his lower back and butt were sore.

“Sorry man.” Hunk smirked. “That’s the lightest box though.”

Lance rubbed his arm a bit more before he picked the box up again and looked at Keith. “I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.” He had to keep up appearances for his friend, but he knew Keith understood and would play along. Ever since they had made love, and the lion appeared on his arm, the muscles and skin were just as strong as they were before he was shot, if not a little stronger.

Keith blushed and bowed his head, picking up the private communication as if Lance shouted in his ear. “I-I can take any of this if you need me to.”

“I’m okay.” Lance winked at him and followed Hunk once more, only stopping when the larger man set his boxes down and laughed. 

Children were already surrounding Hunk, hugging him and grabbing his arms. They laughed. They smiled and called him “aniue.” And Hunk appeared to be loving every second of it. 

Lance turned to Keith and grinned. “See? This has happens to him every time.”

“Every-TIME!?” Keith’s voice pitched as a little girl pulled him from the group, bringing him into a throng of excited children. They tossed a small bag of beans between each other, doing their best to keep their hands behind them. 

“Show them!! Like that other time!!” The girl exclaimed.

Keith smirked. “You want to see that trick?”

“Yes! Yes!” The chorus of wide-eyed children echoed.

“All right.” Keith grinned and threw the bag in the air. He flipped back on his hands and kicked the bean filled filter bag higher, then pushed himself up by his arms to catch it with a sweep. Landing on one foot, knee bent up, leg curved in front, and trapped in the arch of his foot, Keith displayed the bag without upsetting a signal kernel.

Lance started to answer when Keith was pulled away, so he just sat on a stone bench and watched, eyes widening with each of Keith’s motions. 

Hunk laughed. “Hey now. Dinner first, then you can play with Keith and make Lance sulk all you want!”

There was a resound chorus of verbal pouts. “Lance can play too!! Lance can play!!”

Keith managed to wiggle his way from the children, tripping and falling into Lance while trying to maintain his balance. His arms wrapped around the other’s waist, his flushed face pressed against his chest. “H-hi.”

Lance caught Keith, his arms around him, holding him to his chest. “Are you okay?” His voice was soft. “They’re a lot more energetic when Hunk’s here, if you couldn’t tell.”

“How often have you guys been doing this? And where have I been?!” Keith stood straight and turned, his back still against Lance’s chest as he watched the scene unfold with disbelieving eyes.

“This is only the third time.” Lance shook his head and kept one arm around Keith. I wanted to surprise you. I come with him but then go to the shop to be with you.”

Keith saw the smiling faces and heard to the laughter. The derelict alleyway had never been so bright or so warm. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Lance smiled as he watched Hunk use the boxes as makeshift tables, handling out little bowls of rice to the children and the adults. “The food part was easier to start because it was just leftovers the first day, then it was the extra inventory. The part I’m working on is a little more difficult because I have to catalog everything ‘expired’ or ‘unuable,’ which is taking forever.” Lance nuzzled his cheek against Keith’s. Hunk now had trays of meat and vegetables out on those boxes and was giving a little bit of each to every person. Kids were smiling and laughing. Adults looked like they were on the verge of tears, and Hunk had the biggest grin on his face. “And he loves it. He loves the kids. He loves seeing them smile.”

“What can I do?” Keith’s eyes closed at Lance’s attention, for the first time not being bothered by the public display. “Anything at all?”

“You’re coming back with me, right? Tomorrow morning you can help me in the warehouse again.” Lance whispered. “Maybe without the playing this time, or at least we should work first.”

Keith felt his body shiver against Lance’s breath. The moist air teasing the sensitive hairs and something sparked inside of him and the lion moving on his back. “Mm. Yeah. I’ll come back. I’ll behave tomorrow morning.”

“Well you don’t have to behave the entire time, just some of it.” Lance kept whispering, his eyes still locked on Hunk and the kids. “I’m glad you’ll come with me though. I want you to sleep well and have a good night after all of that.”

“What about you? I kind of just stormed in and did as I pleased.” Keith’s tone matched Lance’s as he pressed himself back.

“What about me? I got to show you something nice, and I got to have sex. I don’t see a problem with either of those things.” Lance chuckled, the sound more of a rumble in his chest than anything else. “I also sleep better with you in my arms.”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh. “How did I get so lucky to stumble across someone like you? If there weren’t children around...”

“You were coerced into dressing like a woman. That’s how.” Lance let out another one of those low rumbling chuckles, and he held him a little closer. “You can kiss the hell out of me when we get back, then you don’t have to worry about the children.”

Keith smiled as Hunk spoiled every last child who was coming through the line. Even the adults appeared enamored with the bigger man. Despite his army uniform he looked to be the pillar of honest humility, speaking to the elders in flawless formal Japanese. 

“We can go back now. I’m not needed here. Hunk and Shay have this covered.” Keith didn’t keep the admiration out of his voice as he praised the couple.

“All right.” Lance nodded and let his arms drop from around Keith, but he didn’t move away from him just yet. “Hunk, we’re going. See you later.”

“Sure thing buddy! See ya Keith!” Hunk shouted before he went back to spoiling the children and comforting the adults.

Lance took Keith’s arm and started to tug him back down the alley way. “So this is really a good thing? And you think it’ll be okay?”

“I think it’s amazing. I couldn’t have done any of what you just did. You’ve given them more hope and more food than I could have in a month.” When they turned down the alley Keith lifted Lance’s hand and kissed the back of it.

“You gave them hope and medicine. You gave them a reason to trust me and accept my support without suspecting me of something sinister. That’s so much more important than me conning the army into giving up their extra supplies and food.” Lance’s cheeks pinked at the kiss to his hand.

“I think you’re underplaying yourself. And Hunk?! That guy is incredible!”

“Oh you think so? Incredible hm? Should I be jealous?” Lance snorted a bit and arched a brow.

“I dunno, are you jealous?” Keith grinned impishly as he rounded a corner, bringing the two of them back out on the main street.

Lance pulled Keith’s hand into his jacket pocket and pulled him close enough so that no one would really notice. “A little bit. You didn’t even hesitate in praising another man.” His cheeks puffed out as they walked. 

“Oh, you are.” Keith’s fingers tightened into Lance’s. “If you’re gonna be like that, I might not be able to wait until tomorrow.” 

“Oh? My jealousy turns you on? I mean I don’t mind, but Hunk will when he walks in on us, and I’ll definitely mind when he sees you, but the idea itself sounds pretty nice.” Lance squeezed his hand.

“We can sneak back to my place.” Keith joked, but the a hint of honest curiosity in his voice belayed the humor. He had no desire to head back to the shop any time soon. He didn’t want to be any place Shiro might. His anger twisted into a gnawing guilt burning inside his gut.

Lance shook his head. “You made it pretty clear earlier that you didn’t want to go back there, and I’m sure I’ll get jealous plenty of times in the future, so you can love me then. For now, let’s go back where you can be comfortable, and where I can hold you all night.”

“You wanna show me a few of the air bikes?” Keith arched an eyebrow at Lance. “If that’s possible.”

Lance slowed his pace for a moment as he thought about it. His lips pursed, and he slowly nodded. “I might be able to do that. There aren’t any missions tomorrow, so no one should be in the vehicle buildings.”

“Really?” Keith stopped and stared up at his lover, the excitement making his eyes glitter in the dying afternoon sun.

“Really. But I can’t let you ride one, so just looking, okay? The noise will alert someone and we can’t have that.” Lance’s head nodded a little before he gently tugged his hand in his pocket. “Let’s go?”

“No no! I won’t ask! I just want to see. Army issued? I mean yeah! I’ve seen them take off from the base, I just haven’t seen it up close.” Keith moved with Lance down the street not seeing the town around him, his head titled up at the sky. “Just for fifteen minutes with one of those.”

“All right. That I can definitely do for you.” Lance stopped again when they neared the base. He looked around before motioning for Keith to follow him down a side street. “It’ll be easier to get in this way.”

“Hm?” Keith shook the clouds from his head. “Oh. Yeah. Lead the way.”

Lance led him along the high walls of the compound until they reached a metal bolted door. He pulled his set of keys out of his pocket and used three different ones to unlock and push open the heavy door. He held it and nodded to Keith, waiting until he was inside before he let the door slowly rest back into place and lock behind them.

Keith sat in the shadows, crouching a little to make himself smaller and darker. He looked out at the rows of blocky green cloth tents. The order and uniformity of the camp nauseated Keith, with the peaked tents and solid wooden permanent buildings built with strict specifications. The only differences were four shacks standing on the outskirts of the camp and one larger two story building in the center. The layout stood at a complete contrast to the colorful organized chaos of the Kyoto streets. 

“Everything looks the same. It feels like I could get lost here. But I suppose that’s the point.”

“It is. I got lost the first few times.” Lance looked around, but he started walking along one of the paths next to the wall. “Luckily, my new assignment gives me some more privileges. It was like getting a half promotion. I can’t do anything I want, but I can do significantly more than I could when we met.” He led him to the row of concrete and metal structures, checking one of the doors before once again unlocking it with three keys. “The air bikes are in here.” He flicked a switch and the sparks of unnatural light started to fight the darkness. Rows of air bikes stood at the ready. 

“Air bikes? I thought we were going tomo…” Keith’s voice trailed off, his eyes large as he stared at the rows of bikes. Thirty bikes laid before him in in six rows of five. Each one painted in US Army brown and green with silver rims and leather seating. Keith inhaled the scent of fresh leather as he stepped further into the room. 

Reaching out to trace the silver inlay on one bike, Keith’s whisper came with reverence. “A 780 series. I’ve never seen one of these. These were decommissioned five years ago in the United States because of the tendency for user error. They’d crash, and their combination of oil and compression would cause small craters to form around the crash site.” His fingers danced over the grips, teasing the clutch before exploring each finger sized indent “Widow Makers. It’s what the magazines called them.”

“You have this one too!” Keith stood straight up, breaking his awe and scrambling over to the farthest bike in the room. “Factory red. You haven’t even gotten a chance to paint it yet? God it would be a shame to lose that cherry shade. This is a Titan 12S. Last I heard they were still in trials.” 

Lance shrugged and just watched Keith buzz around the room, the excitement palpable. “I don’t know what any of that means. I’ve only used them a few times in drills, and then I was assigned to dirigible pilot, so I haven’t used them since.”

“Which ones did you fly?” Keith stared at Lance, star struck.

Lance pointed to the first set of bikes Keith talked about. “The ones you made sound super dangerous.”

“Those?” Keith walked back to the ‘Widow Makers’ taking on the countenance of a priest over a mechanic. “That’s dangerous. Were they crazy? Then I guess they didn’t know then. Hopefully.”

“Just for drills. I’m better at piloting the dirigible anyway.” Lance rolled his shoulders a little. “But if they were decommissioned five years ago, they probably know it’s not safe and they use them anyway. I don’t know. Is that red one safer?”

“Fast. The fastest one to date.” Keith whispered. “I’ve flown a few before, but not one like that.” 

Lance nodded and held his hand out to him. “Maybe the army is looking for better equipment, that one is probably a test bike for that reason, or they have one to say they’re doing that. Either way, they still use all these other ones, and now I’m glad I was never put on bikes.”

Taking Lance’s hand, Keith curled himself into an embrace, hugging his long arm to his chest and sinking into the warmth coming around him. “I’m glad too.” He laid his head back against his shoulder. “What’s the dirigible like?”

“It’s amazing. You get to be way up in the sky. It doesn’t matter if it’s slow moving. You go into the clouds, above the clouds, higher than the bikes can get by far. Everything looks so small from up there.” Lance held Keith close and nuzzled his lips into his hair. 

“You should take me up sometime.” 

“If I ever can, I will. You’ll love it.” Lance kissed the top of his head.

Keith’s blinks started becoming longer as he completely enveloped himself in Lance’s voice and arms. “We can head back now if you want. If I’m tired, you must be spent.”

“We should. I am a bit tired, too” Lance was hesitant to let Keith go, but he slowly pulled his arms from around him. “No one will bother us on the way back to the barracks, and Hunk probably won’t be back for an hour or so.” He looked at Keith, warmth spreading in his chest. This was such a simple evening. There were no expectations from either of them, and both of them could relax as much as a couple could relax when sneaking around an army base. It was calming, and he took Keith’s hand. “Are you okay with heading in?”

“Yeah,” Keith smiled as he walked over to the door, pulling his hair under the cap. “You’ll just have to bring me back here.”

“I will find a way to arrange it if I can.” Lance opened the door and led him out, making sure everything was turned off, shut, and locked before he led him to a building that was set a little bit back from the other barracks. He grimaced slightly. This building looked like some sort of converted storage unit rather than the row of tents seen beyond it. And unlike any other barracks, there was a door with two locks. Two different keys. Lance unlocked both and led Keith into the main room, which was small and only contained a wood-burning stove, a couch, and a table with two chairs. He said nothing as he led him through the doorway into the back half of the building. There were two beds, two desks with chairs, two trunks, and two dressers. The room itself was big enough to fit more than just two people, but Lance and Hunk were the only occupants. Their beds were against the walls by the windows, as though that made it a little cozier. A lamp swung from the ceiling as Lance scooted past Keith and turned it on. “Well, this is it.”

“This isn’t so bad.” Keith walked in and sat on the bed, wincing when it creaked. There was very little about the room to identify the occupants. Hunk had a few miscellaneous items strewn about, a faded yellow letter, a book, and something written in a language Keith couldn’t even take a guess at.

“So,” He tilted his head up, removing the hat and his abused hair fell forward in crimped waves. 

Lance’s lips twitched before he reached out and touched Keith’s hair, twisting his fingers in it gently. “I mean, it’s not great. Can you see why I prefer your bed over mine? But I can’t complain. This is actually the safest barracks.” His lips twitched again, but this time it was downward instead of upward. He wiped the grimace off his face and sat on the bed next to him. It seemed to sigh under the weight of two people, but it was sturdy enough to support them.

“Hmm. But if you say it’s a safe place. I trust you.” Keith focused on every move the other man made. Lance had a habit of acting more confident than he felt. In the pages of history people of color did not get treated well. Keith knew the thought was an understatement. No matter how heroic a person’s deeds were, racism came in every shape, size, color, and background. Being different became a disease, and if people fraternized with them, then the contagion spread. Keith understood it all too well. 

“But I’m here now.” The smaller Korean man laid back on Lance’s bed, letting his hair pillow him against the green and beige sheets.

“You are. And I don’t deserve someone as good as you, but I’m definitely not going to complain.” Lance leaned over him and watched the way his pale skin contrasted the dark hair that spread out around him. He reached down and pushed a stray strand from his forehead. “And one day, when I get out of this mess, I am going to devote everything I am to you. And if you’d like, take you to meet my family in Cuba.”

“Tell me about them.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s hand. “What are they like? What’s Cuba like?” 

“Loud. Very loud and clingy.” Lance chuckled and watched Keith. “But very warm. My parents give really good hugs, and my siblings are really nice even though they tease me all the time. And Cuba is good. It warm. Our village is close to the water, so sometimes it’s nice to just sit on the beach and watch the ocean. There are so many different sounds and smells when you live on a beach than in a bustling city like this. I mean, there’s a lot less urgency there, and you can just sit and take it all in.”

“I remember the ocean.” The light skinned man turned on his side, pulling Lance’s hand with him as he did. “A long time ago. It was dark and loud. It rocked the tiny boat, and I remember Shiro’s father holding me under his rain coat.” Keith’s words trailed off into memory, closing his eyes. “I’d like to see your ocean.”

Lance moved so he was curled up against Keith’s back, shifting so he could hold the smaller man against his chest. “I’ll take you there. And you can see it when it’s calm and sunny, and the light reflects off the water in such a way that it looks like crystal.”

“Like your eyes. That’s how I picture it.” Keith kissed each fingertip.

“Eh?” Heat rose to Lance’s cheeks, and he stared down at Keith with wide eyes. “What?”

“Calm sparkling blue. They pull me in like a tide.” 

“Oh yeah? Well that’s dangerous isn’t it? The last place you want to get caught is in an undertow.” Lance leaned down and kissed him.

“Mm. Drag me down with you.” Keith whispered after the kiss, licking his lips. 

“I’d rather lift you up.” Lance murmured against Keith’s lips, his eyes partially closed. 

“You already do. When I need to breathe the most, you lead me to the surface and give me air.” Keith continued to leave tiny kisses along his chin and jaw. 

Lance’s eyes closed with those kisses, and he grinned. “Do I? I’m not sure I’m as great as you think, but I won’t complain if it means you like me so much.”

“Good, because I’m being pretty sweet right now.” Keith chuckled.

“You’re modest aren’t you?” Lance opened his eyes and stared down at him. “I’m honestly not sure what I did to deserve you, but I won’t let you go.”

“I selfishly fell in love with a guy who selfishly decided to love me back.” Keith slipped his fingers into Lance’s hair. “No one has to let go.”

“Then I will hold onto you until you get annoyed with me.” Lance groaned and allowed his eyes to close again. Keith pampering him made his heart flutter and his stomach feel warm. “Because I want to be selfish and keep you forever.”

“You’re being exceedingly cute today.” Keith grinned while his fingers teased the short brown locks. 

“Am I? Is it because you keep petting me like a puppy?” Lance leaned in, eyes still closed, and he nuzzled his lips against Keith’s cheek. “It feels good.”

“Something you’d rather I do? You seem pretty content right now.” Keith laughed and sighed as Lance’s warm breath danced upon his neck.

“I am pretty content. I like this.” Lance continued to nuzzle his cheek with his lips. “It feels pretty good, and I can’t remember the last time someone other than you comforted me like this.”

“You needed comfort?” The gentle ministrations hesitated but didn’t stop, but a note of concern carried over into Keith’s words. “Something wrong? What happened?” 

A whimper escaped Lance’s lips when Keith hesitated, then resumed the attentions in his hair. “Nothing really. I just felt very stressed until you started doing this, so it made me feel better. I mean why wouldn’t it feel better? It feels so good.”

“Does me being here stress you out? Or is it this?” Keith laid his hand over the lion mark.

“Neither of those things. You, and that, are the only things that seem to make sense in my life right now.” Lance opened his eyes. “I just don’t feel comfortable here anymore. I’m sure it’s because of my injury and the way they treated me, and how their new job doesn’t sit right with me.”

“I’m corrupting you. Wait? New job?”

“How are you corrupting me? By loving me? By giving me a reason to get up in the morning? By giving me something nice to dream about at night?” Lance’s head shook. “You’re not corrupting me. You’re saving me. And you know about it. The spying thing I hate, remember?”

“Oh, sorry.” Keith hadn’t forgotten, the thought lingered in the back of his mind, and he wished it could have stayed there a little longer. “Well, you joined the army for a reason, right? You wanted to do something.” Keith gaze flickered around the room. “They don’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated. But you knew that was likely when you enlisted. You and Hunk aren’t like the rest of them but to a lot of them it doesn’t matter. Right?” 

Keith slipped out from under Lance and pushed aside the curtain over the small window. The view showed the main collection of tents. “I don’t believe everyone here is bad. Most signed up with good intentions. To serve and to protect. There’s good people here, and there’s good people out there.” Keith’s thumb traced the chipped frame on the window. “I want you to be with me. All the time. I can hide you and protect you. Hunk too. But it must be something you want. Something worth the aftermath.”

When Keith sat back down, he laid his body over Lance’s side. “If you come with me, it’s going change the way you live your life and if news gets back to your family? Will they understand?”

Lance listened to Keith without interjecting, though there were several times when he wanted to, but when he was done and laying over him again, the taller man sighed. “My family doesn’t understand why I joined the army in the first place. And now, honestly, neither do I. I was lured in by the promise of glory, and what has it brought me? I got shot through the arm and almost deported. I didn’t join for any reason other than a selfish one, but meeting you has given me the desire to do good. So I will, and I will use them however I can because they had no problem using me. And if coming with you means I get out of here, I’d gladly do it. There’s nothing they can do to me once I’m gone, right? And all they can do to my family is send them a uniform and say I died in active combat. Obviously I can write them and tell them differently. They don’t care much as long as I am alive and healthy.”

“Glory?” Keith slipped his arms around Lance. “I don’t want you to be the type to looks for glory in a war. It means people die and there’s no glory in that. It hurts. It rots you from the inside out. Then you trick yourself into believing you did the right thing. Or you had no choice.” Keith looked down at his hands as his fingers curled into themselves. 

“Every time you kill, that’s someone’s child. Someone’s parent, someone’s sibling. It all links together until you’re bound by the weight of the chain it creates.” Keith curled in tighter. “You’re better than all of that.”

“You say that, but it’s not true. I’m not better than that. Well, I wasn’t when I first signed up anyway. I was young and stupid. I’ve already killed people.” Lance shook his head. “And if it means you think less of me, that’s fine, but please don’t make me out to be something I’m not. I’m not as good as you say I am. I never was good until I met you.” He turned a little so he could pull Keith into his arms. “You’re not bad. If I’m not bad, you’re not bad. And I’m sure I’ve killed more people than you care to know.”

“You don’t fight the way we do without a purpose.” The press of Lance’s hand eased the growing tension in Keith’s body. “But you know that much already.”

“I know. But I also know you’re not the type to go somewhere with the intent to kill someone else. That’s not who you are. Defense is different than intent. You’re not a bad person, Keith. I could tell that much when you defended me at the ramen place.”

“Defended? I was having fun.” Keith sat up a little more before he shook his head. Lance didn’t appear to get it. The rush and the thrill of the fight excited Keith on a level he rarely experienced. Did Lance have any idea his superiors sent him into a den of wolves? But why would he? Lance’s questions were rare. He went along with Keith’s crazy life style, like water coursing through a river, going along for the ride.

Lance watched Keith’s movements before he also sat up and stared at him. “Well it’s not like you’ve told me anything to the contrary, right? All I’ve seen is that fight you got in at the ramen shop, but you say that was just fun? I thought you were defending me because I got hit.” It wasn’t like he never asked about stuff before, but the answers he was always given were vague, or he was brushed off, or he was blatantly lied to. And Keith only seemed to want to tell him anything when he knew he was caught. He didn’t tell him about the crossdressing until Lance figured it out. He didn’t tell him about the supposed real reason behind those blood draws until the lion had shown up. What was the point in asking anything else? Even though Keith said he wasn’t going to hide anything from Lance anymore, he wasn’t sure he was being completely open.

“I guess it doesn’t matter.” He laid back down. “Just stop saying all of this stuff about corrupting me, or ruining things for me. You’re not. So stop it, please. It makes it sound like you regret being with me.”

Keith had it coming so he didn’t flinch when Lance moved, dropping Keith down on the bed. “It does matter!” He pleaded, leaning up on his side.

“I thought you didn’t ask because you didn’t want to know. I was defending you. When he hit you, I got mad, so mad I was calm. I knew I could beat them, and I enjoyed the feel of it.” 

“They sent you to us and told you nothing about us.” Lance knew about the explosions, the raids, the rebel activity but not the darker more dangerous side of their lives. Keith touched Lance’s cheek. 

“Of course they didn’t tell me. I would have told you if they told me.” Lance looked up at him, brows furrowed. “All I knew was that you hijacked those supplies, and I learned that from you. They only told me they wanted me to spy on whoever the rebels were because I went to the shop for that brace. Because I was there every day. It’s easier to keep me ignorant, so I do better work, isn’t it?” His eyes closed. “It’s easier if I’m in the dark about everything, then no one has to tell me the truth until I figure it out on my own.”

Keith crumbled and curled up on to Lance, his arms holding him close. “I thought you knew. I don’t even know where to start now.” Keith closed his eyes and sighed softly. “What do you want to know? I’ll tell you.”

“I’m not sure. Isn’t it easier if I don’t know?” Lance’s voice was soft, laced with a little bit of pain. “I don’t deserve to know anything, do I?”

“Deserve?” Keith tilted his head, brows furrowed. “I don’t think that’s an issue.” His arms slacked. “Are you making fun of me? I’m trying to be serious.”

“How can you listen to me and look at me and think I’m making fun of you?” Lance’s eyes opened, and they shimmered with tears that he refused to let fall. 

“How can you kiss me, and make love to me and not think you deserve to know about me.” Keith laid his hand on Lance’s chest. “I’ve done my best to answer every question you’ve asked me since I promised I would. I know I’m doing things wrong. I’m not good at this.” Strong fingers clutched Lance’s shirt. 

“D-do I make you feel you don’t deserve me? How can I change that? Or is it that you deserve better? I can understand that. I’ve done horrible things to you. I’ve lied to you. I’ve dragged you into things you never asked for. Meanwhile you’ve been patient and kind. You’ve never even raised your voice to me. How is it even possible you think you don’t deserve things?” 

“What? No. I don’t think I deserve better than you. I think you’re too good for me.” Lance’s lips trembled a bit as he spoke. “All I want is to be with you, and I’m doing everything I can to make that happen, and to make you want to be with me. I’m lying to my bosses. I’m manipulating them to give me things, so I can do something good for you and for the people who need help. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to ask you. I’m only able to ask things when I finally figure something out. How was I supposed to ask about anything you’ve done if you’ve never given me reason to believe you’ve done those things?”

“Ah.” Keith knew Lance’s words were meant to make him feel better, but inside the well-meaning sentiment laid a list of tasks Lance had to do in order to stay with the other man. “I’ve never talked about it. Not in detail. I guess. It wasn’t the type of thing I wanted involved in our relationship. I’m not the delicate maiko you fell in love with. I guess-“ Keith sighed. “I wanted ‘us’ to not have to exist with ‘that’. I should have known it was impossible.”

Lance looked at Keith for a long moment, the weight of the other man’s words pushing the air out of his lungs and making it hard to breathe. “I’ve already told you, I fell in love with you. You, Keith. What else do I have to do to make you believe it? What else do I have to do to get you to see that? Maybe I don’t like you hiding things from me, but that doesn’t mean my feelings for you are going to change. I just want to be someone worthy of you, and it doesn’t seem like I can ever reach that because it sounds like there’s a part of you that still doesn’t want to let me in.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t blame you. In fact, I probably understand it all better than I should. I just don’t know what else I can do to prove myself to you.”

“Stop trying so hard.” Keith answered his voice small. “Trust that I love you.”

“I know you love me. I’ve never questioned your love for me.” Lance held Keith a little closer. “I’m selfish. I want to be the only one you’ll ever want or need.”

“Then what are you trying to prove to me? You’re already those things.” Keith pushed his forehead against Lance’s collar. 

“That I love you. That I will love you no matter what. Even if you decided to get rid of me.” Lance held him as close as he could without crushing him.

“Get rid of you?” Keith lifted his eyes, tears levying inside them. “I don’t…” Keith shook his head unsure if something was getting lost in translation. Lance always seemed to think Keith wanted to leave him. “I don’t understand.”

“What did I say that you don’t understand?” Lance’s voice was soft. “I’m declaring my never ending devotion to you.”

“No. I mean why do you think I’ll get rid of you?” Keith’s fingers pulled lightly at Lance’s collar as he bit his lower lip. “I don’t want to.”

“I mean I hope you wouldn’t.” Lance nuzzled his face into his hair. “I’m just as new to this as you are. I don’t know how to be confident about that yet. But I believe you.” 

“Promise?” Came a small broken whisper.

“I promise.” Lance held him close and pressed his face into his hair. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” Keith pressed his face into Lance’s chest. “I don’t remember why we’re fighting.”

“I wouldn’t really call this fighting. You haven’t hit me yet.” Lance kissed the top of his head. “Please don’t hit me. It hurts.” He managed a little smile. 

“Don’t say that!” Keith demanded, his voice muffled by Lance’s shirt. “I’d never hit you.”

“Kitten, you hit me the first night we met.” Lance kissed his head again.

A laugh followed a sniff. “I didn’t know you. I was protecting my honor.” 

“Well I’m glad you got over that, or the sex would be horrible because we wouldn’t be having it.” Lance chuckled a little.

“Are you saying I don’t have any honor now?” Keith lifted his chin, his red rimmed his eyes but the tears had dried up and a small smile now creased this cupid bow lips.

“Well, you’re not punching me to protect it, so…” Lance chuckled and rubbed his back. “Now I’m protecting it hm?”

“Oh? And how do you do that?” 

“Well you’re not having sex with anyone else, are you?” Lance grinned. “And I glare at anyone who seems to want to.”

“Lance!” Keith whimpered, cheeks flushed by his earlier tears now turned shades darker, and his lower lip pushed forward in a one of his infamous pouts. “Who’d want to?”

“There are people who would, whether you realize it or not.” Lance kissed him and gently nipped at that protruding lip, grinning when he tugged just a little. “And you’re mine. Don’t let anyone else see you like this.”

Keith gasped, his eyes widening at the small possessive gesture. Lance’s bites excited him in a primal way. “I-I won’t? But I don’t know how I look…”

“Cute, sexy, take your pick.” Lance rested one of his hands on the small of Keith’s back, the other lifted and pushed some stray ebony strands out of his face. “Now, what do you think I should know, hm?” The fingers that pushed into his hair now slid down his cheeks. “Let me in, Keith.”

“Nnm.” Keith shuddered, falling under Lance’s spell the second his fingers twisted in his hair, and he felt the warmth of his hand pressed into his back. “I’ve gone out on raids with the others against the army and other government stock houses from Kyoto to Tokyo. I was the fastest, so I’d go in first, Shiro was back up and Pidge would provide intel.” 

Lance rubbed his back a little. “Go on.” He kept his other fingers at his cheek, the touches grazing his skin. 

“We’d stake out locations and hit. At night, even after being Keiko, we’d meet up and do the job. That night Hunk came instead of you, Shiro.. mmm…” Keith groaned, his eyes closing. The touches felt better than they should have. “Shiro had umm, just finished a hit.” A purr could have risen up in his the back of Keith’s throat at any second. 

“I made sure the coast was clear and take care of it if it wasn’t. That was my job.”

“Let me ask something.” Lance slid his fingers over Keith’s jaw. “Do you think it’s a good idea to moan while talking about Shiro?”

“I-I didn’t try to.” Deep amethyst eyes looked dreamily up at Lance. “That feels good.”

“Well, if you do it again, I’m going to punish you.” Lance slid his fingers over his neck. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Punish?” Keith breathed. “Nn-I liked wearing the kimono for you.”

“Oh yeah? All of them? Or just the blue one you bought for me?” Lance smiled and kissed him. “And yes, punish. Remember, I’m the only one you should be moaning about.”

“Blue.” Keith whispered between his lips. “Could you punish me?” A pink tongue flicked out to moisten them.

“Then you should make sure you wear it for me again.” Lance chuckled and dropped his hand to his back, holding him a little closer, and his voice dropped as well. “I can, and I will if I have to.”

“You don’t make it sound like a bad thing.” Keith curled his face into Lance’s neck. “Anything you want, I’ll do it. Just ask. I’ll give anything to you.”

“Maybe it’s not a bad thing, but do you really want to moan about Shiro just to find out? As for the rest, just tell me things if you think I should know them, even if I don’t ask. I won’t always know when or what to ask.” Lance rubbed his back in slow, circular motions. 

“Things like, ‘This feels good’?”

“That’s a start.” Lance’s hands continued to move. If he could bring some comfort to Keith, he could feel better himself.

“What else? Any burning questions I can lay to rest for you right now?” Keith stretched his body out over Lance like an overstuffed cat.

“How much do you love me, Kitten?”

“More than I can express with words.” Keith lifted his head to the side so he could see Lance’s face. “Enough develop a personality disorder because seeing you only once a day wasn’t enough.”

“A personality disorder? But that was before all of this. I mean now. Now that you know I know. Now that you’re here with me.” Lance touched his cheek.

“Yeah, for a bit there it was like Keiko was becoming a real person.” Keith looked off to the side for a second before he nodded coming to a decision. “It hurts when I’m near you.” Keith parted his lips, a short gasp escaping past them.

“Wait, what?” Lance pulled his hand back and sat up, looking down at him. “I hurt you?”

“I always want more. To be closer. To be touched. To feel you and touch you. But it’s not enough.” Keith turned to lay on his back, staring up at Lance as a ray of moonlight stretched across his face, silver notes catching and glimmering back in his eyes. His whole countenance appearing ethereal. “When I’m with you, I can only think about when I’ll be able to be with you again.”

“So that hurts you?” Lance reached down, touching Keith’s lips. “Even if you say nice things like that, you’re hurt by my presence? Or is it something else?” His brows furrowed, and he sighed.

“What else would I call that feeling?” Keith kissed each fingertip as it touched his lips. “Constant longing.”

“Not hurt.” Lance’s eyes locked into Keith’s with those kisses. “Ache might be a better word. If it’s desire and not pain.”

“Then I feel desire when I’m near you. Endless desire.” Keith kissed Lance’s fingers again, watching his face as his tongue flicked out over one calloused pad.

The heat came to Lance’s cheeks and spread down his neck as he thought about what that tongue could do. He needed to behave. He really did. But could he resist? So he leaned down and pulled his hand away, replacing it with his lips. 

“Mm!” Keith obliged him, swirling his tongue against the heated one offered him and drowned in everything Lance could give him. His scent. His Body. His taste. 

Lance pressed himself against Keith and gave him all he could before he broke the kiss, panting. “Hunk will be back soon, remember?” He wasn’t sure who he was reminding. He had a feeling it was himself.

“There’s a couch.” Keith kissed him again before his brows shot up realizing how he sounded, and he pulled away. “Ye..yeah. Sorry.”

Lance chuckled and pressed his face against Keith’s shoulder. “You’re assuming Hunk wouldn’t just open the door and try to embarrass us.”

“Wouldn’t he be embarrassed?” Keith kissed Lance’s hair.

“Nah. Well probably, but he’d take us out with him.” Lance nuzzled into his shoulder.

“I’d rather not be on his bad side. If he has one.” Keith’s fingers combed his hair with a lazy ease.

“Me neither.” Lance’s voice softened and he let out a slight groan. “Nn. That feels good.” He shifted so he could press as close to Keith as possible without making it too arousing. This was good. This was what he wanted. Someone loving and warm. Keith was the perfect one for it.

“I always wanted a puppy.” Keith laughed as he wrapped his other arm around him. “Rest. I put you through a lot today.”

“I don’t know if I should laugh or be a little offended at that.” Lance closed his eyes and kept his face tucked against Keith’s shoulder. “I’ll rest only if you rest, too.”

“I’m already half way there.” Keith’s body sunk deeper into the bed. He wasn’t bothered by the thin pillow or stiff sheets. Surrounded by all things belonging to Lance, he found nothing but comfort. 

“Mmm.” Lance lost his words, surrounded by Keith’s warmth. His breathing evened out as he let himself drift, trusting the man in his bed more than anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Translation Note**
> 
> Aniue - Older Brother. Kids in japan will generally call older people by familial terms. Older brother, older sister, auntie or uncle.


	13. Kuroyuri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ EXPLICIT~~~** Please look for the ~~~~~~ in the chapter, this marks the start and stop of explicit content. 
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Chocolate Lilly** _Kuroyuri 黒百合_ \- Love/Curse
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

An early spring rain washed through the army camp. It pelted against the warped windows, magnifying the sound of the drops tenfold. The rotten and aged wood of the barracks swelled and ebbed with the blowing of wind, bringing with it a draft as it parted thick chalked seams, binding the second-hand materials to the wooden walls. 

In the center room sat a wood burning stove. It did very little to heat much else beyond the sitting area. Under normal circumstances the cold would not be a bother to Keith, but in a place like this the young man didn’t trust himself enough to manage his typical self-maintenance. So he suffered like any other human.

Lance and Hunk left before the sun had risen over the mountains, and once in a while Keith pretended he could hear one or both of their voices over the shouting of morning drills. At least Hunk left him something to eat and Lance set out a few books and blank sketch paper to occupy his time. Keith grumbled something about being a pet, but he wouldn’t complain. He intruded on their space, and both young soldiers would be in a fair amount trouble if the ‘interloper’ got caught. So, Keith stayed put. He read, napped, ate breakfast, and rummaged through a few drawers (only Lance’s of course. He respected Hunk’s privacy).

As the morning aged and darkened into a storm, how woefully unprepared Keith had been struck him. He pulled at his day old clothes. The thin fabric did little to nothing to keep heat in, and without being willing to heat himself up he no choice but to improvise. 

As noon passed Keith sat on the couch. His knees pulled up and a pair of Lance’s uniform slacks dangling and wiggling off his tapping feet a magazine in his lap. He folded the jacket sleeves to mid arm, careful of breaking the thread on the heavy metal cufflinks, and, for his own amusement, he set the visored cap on top of his loose sitting hair. Singing softly to himself, he flipped through the publication and took down any English words he didn’t recognize with what he thought they meant, and he made a mental note to ask Lance when he came in. 

Two clicks and the knob of the door turned. Lance cursed as he managed to win the fight against the wind and pulled the door open. He stepped inside, soaked from head to toe, even though he had been wearing his rain gear. He glanced over at Keith before he pulled the door shut and locked it once more. “Sorry, were you bored?” He must have been if he was singing to himself, right? The melody was nice, if not a bit haunting. He watched him for a moment before he shook himself out of his daze, and with slow, miserable steps, he pulled off his rain gear to reveal the soaked uniform below. He practically collapsed in front of the stove and tried to dry off and heat up at the same time. “Fucking rain.” 

“I’ll take bored over drenched.” Keith stood up, pant cuffs flopping on the floor as he stepped up behind the taller man. 

“Here.” Keith yanked down a blanket he had strewn over the can sized chimney piping. The wool absorbed the wood smoke scent but captured the heat of the stove. He hugged it around Lance’s head, kissing the top through the warmed cloth. “This should feel better.”

Lance shifted so Keith didn’t soak the blanket, and he peeled off his uniform jacket and boots, letting them sit on the floor in front of the stove to dry. He turned and grinned at Keith. “There. And what were you singing? It sounded nice.”

“Hm?” Keith whispered as he smoothed the edges of the blanket out. “It’s called Sakura.” He blushed at the compliment. “I believe you have sakura in the United States right. Umm cherry blossoms, right?” Keith sang a few more bars of it breaking off into a gentle hum. “It’s an old folk song. Shiro’s mother sang it a lot while she helped Shiroganesan with the kimonos.”

“Oh, is it?” Lance leaned against him and nuzzled his cheek. “And why are you wearing my clothes instead of the ones I got you?” His nuzzling became more deliberate, especially as he slipped his tongue out to taste Keith’s jaw.

“Th-hese were warmer.” Keith’s voice hitched and his eyelids fought to close. “I should have asked, first...”

“I don’t mind.” Lance let his tongue trace Keith’s jaw. “Are they really warmer? It’s the same uniform as the one I got you. Or are you just super cute, and they’re warmer because they’re mine?”

“They smell like you.” Keith drew his legs up a little, his toes curling into the oversized pants legs.

“And you like how I smell?” Lance whispered as his tongue slid over Keith’s neck.

“Y-y-yes.” Keith tilted his head to Lance’s urging, gasping when a droplet fell from his water spiked hair and on to the hot flesh of over his collar bone. “Nng!” Keith had too many weak spots, and Lance enjoyed discovering each one.

“I think it’s sexy that you think that. I think it’s sexy that you’re wearing my clothes while you sing.” Lance’s voice was even quieter, his lips brushing against the tender flesh of Keith’s neck. “Very very sexy.” He licked again before he pulled his head back to look at him.

Keith listed his head back, resting it against the couch cushion. When had he been lowered to the floor? Did it matter? Keith decided it didn’t. “Mmm Hunk. What about Hunk?” He opened his eyes to see Lance, his stomach flipping at the sight of his hunger reflecting back on him.

“He is in town.” Lance watched every subtle movement. “He won’t walk back in this rain. I was just in the warehouse, and I didn’t want to be away from you any longer than I needed to be, rain be damned.” 

“So, it’s just us tonight?” Keith smiled and gave Lance a flirty little wink.

“At least as long as it’s raining. I missed you, and I would have taken you with me if they weren’t doing so many drills this morning.” Lance leaned down and nuzzled into Keith’s warmth before he started kissing his neck again. 

“Ah, gods… let it keep raining.” Keith’s fingers flexed in Lance’s hair, kneading the drying locks and holding his head against the sensitive slope. Jolts of pleasure tickled down his spine making each breath a shiver.

“Oh? So you’re glad I’m back, but you aren’t going to tell me you missed me?” Lance didn’t lift his head, so his lips and his breath moved against Keith’s neck, as his hand slid up his thigh.

“I missed you.” Keith rolled his thigh open, his breathing faster with every touch and kiss Lance gave to his skin. “Mmm I missed you very much.”

“Then you understand how I feel.” Lance progressed his kisses and licks up over his jaw until he got to Keith’s ear, and he nibbled the lobe gently. His hand slid further up his thigh. “And it makes me happy to hear that you feel how I do, Kitten.”

~~~~~~~~

The first bite caused the gentle tickles to form into a shock, jutting Keith’s spine in to a libidinous arch. The subsequent nibbles made a metamorphosis of his shivers into mewls. He kneaded Lance’s hair, tugging the ends with each sharp note of pleasure he dragged out of Keith. 

“Oh, do you like this?” Lance felt something darken inside him. Nothing dangerous, but the need to possess Keith and reduce him to a puddle of whimpers was overwhelming. If he wasn’t so intent on pleasuring his lover, he might have been more alert about the slight surge in heat coming from Keith’s hands, but instead he used his teeth to tug on that earlobe as his hand traveled to his inner thigh.

The feel of Lance’s teeth scraping and tugging gave rise to a chorus of gasps and quicken breaths. 

“God… that feels good.” The spikes of pain and chasing pleasure confused and delighted Keith’s whole nervous system, fueling the heating core of need inside him. 

Lance slid his tongue up the shell of Keith’s ear as he moved his body and lifted himself a bit, his hand rubbing his inner thigh before it slid up to undo the army-issued pants. “You’re so warm,” he whispered against his ear, “it feels amazing.”

“You make me that way.” Keith lifted his hips after Lance, the natural need to feel the pressure of him between them driving his actions. With his legs spread and bent, he hooked his fingers though Lance’s belt loops, jerking him forward. A new expression, filled with impish delight glinting in his violet eyes.

Lance pressed himself against Keith’s body and grinned. “Do I? Then since I’m making you feel that way, will you use your warmth on me since I had gotten caught in the rain?” He kissed him and rubbed himself against him despite their clothing. He needed to possess Keith.

“Do you want to feel me around you?” Keith flushed darkly at his feeble attempt at dirty talk. “You should take this off, so I can heat you up better.”

“Help me.” Lance kissed him as he shifted and fumbled with his shirt, trying to unbutton it. “Warm me. Let me feel your heat, Kitten” He kissed him again.

Keith flushed at the nickname as daft fingers wasted no time in getting Lance’s shirt off, and letting it slop to the floor, pouting only when Lance’s wrist got trapped inside of cuff. “Stupid western shirts.” 

Lance chuckled and got that sleeve off his wrist before he kissed him again. “Mm. Thank you.” He unbuckled his belt and kissed Keith a second time. “I’m sorry my stupid western clothes are a problem. You must be really eager to get me naked, hm?”

“Yeah.” Keith helped drag the wet pants down until Lance could kick them off. Warm hands grazed up his thighs and gripped the perfect curve of Lance’s ass. “I’m hot.” 

Lance actually squeaked at that and looked at him. “Yeah, you are. I feel a little cold. Warm me.” He kissed him and shimmied the rest of the way out of his pants.

Keith closed his arms around him, pulling him closer. “Where do you want to feel the most heat?” He whispered into Lance’s ear as he nuzzled the shell his nose.

Lance reached out to unbutton Keith’s shirt as he groaned a little with each of those nuzzles. “Mmm. Surround me with it.”

Keith settled back again, watching Lance’s eyes traverse the slow exposer of pale and aroused flesh, sliding one of his hands up to dance over Lance’s lips. “There are ways I can do that. Ways we’ve already done. Ways you’ve told me. Ways I can guess at.”

“Mmm. Well then we should do it all of those ways, hm?” Lance kissed Keith’s fingers and pushed the shirt open once it was unbuttoned. He leaned down to place feather-light kisses to his collarbone.

“I thought you liked me… mph… in your uniform?” Keith tried to joke but a gasp severed his sentence in two. “A-all the ways?” Keith’s hands found their way to thread through Lance’s hair, coaxing his lips to stay on the places he liked. 

“I like you out of it, too.” Lance kissed down his chest as his fingers tugged Keith’s pants down. He groaned a little at the hands in his hair, and he licked Keith’s flesh in thanks.

Keith lifted his hips to aid Lance in the removal of the last bit of his clothing, hissing as the cold air kissed his most fevered and private skin. “L… lance,” Lingering embarrassment screwed Keith’s eyes shut, unable to watch Lance’s expression upon seeing his lascivious body. Still so sensitive. Still behaving like the timid virgin he never felt like he was, fast to arousal, quick to writhe and all it took was a touch or a prolonged heated gaze. “I..,”

“You also seem to like you out of it.” Lance’s voice was barely a whisper as his lips moved against Keith’s collarbone. He sat back a little to watch his lover shiver with excitement, and he tossed those pants aside now that they were off him. He smirked and slid a finger along Keith’s exposed heat. “And you definitely seem to like this.”

“A-ah!” Keith cried out reflexively curling around the hand touching him. “Lance!” 

“I will take that as agreement.” Lance’s finger slid over the tender flesh, and after a moment, he curled his hand around Keith and began to move it slowly, watching his face as he did so.

Keith pressed his face against the edge of the cushion he leaned against, his eyes half opened and staring at the stove, embers glinting within them like fractals of light. Keith’s head arched and his lower lip quivered until it was sucked between his perfectly white teeth. The action exposing the imperfect snaggletooth fang.

“Tell me.” Lance whispered. He continued to please Keith, but he turned his head to kiss Keith’s hair, since his face was against that cushion. “Let me hear it.”

“AH!” Keith’s hand darted out to grip Lance’s wrist. The lion rippling and dancing in the shadows of the cast iron stove. “Lance!” Tears beaded up at the corners of his eyes like little drops of dew hanging from his lashes.

“Tears?” Lance’s eyes darkened at the sight, and the urge to possess Keith became stronger. “Is that a good or bad feeling?” His hand slowed, a smirk curving his lips. “Should I stop?”

“Don’t! Please don’t. It feels good!” Keith squeezed Lance’s wrist, snapping his eyes from the fire to Lance. He moved his hips trying to get the pace back to what was given him before. “My body feels like it’s on fire. Your hand.. your body…Please I need you.” His sex started to weep in Lance’s grasp, his stomach pulling tight with warning.

“Then keep needing me.” Lance once again moved his hand faster, and he nuzzled Keith’s hair as he spoke quietly. “Need me now. Need me later. Need me even when you don’t want to need me. Never stop.” He moved a little to gently bite Keith’s earlobe, licking the flesh when he pulled away.

“Nnneh!” Keith came with a near violent pull on Lance’s arm. “Ah!!” Hot white light blinded him for an instant, leaving him empty and cold against the cushion. He shivered and hadn’t seen the stove flare up with cries of his climax before dying down to embers.

There was a burst of heat, and Lance couldn’t tell if it came from Keith or from the stove. Either way, he pulled his face back from the other man’s ear and looked down at him. “That good hm?” he couldn’t help the grin that came to his lips. 

Keith’s whole body slumped, more spent than it should have been, but he pressed his knees in, cradling Lance between his legs. An arch started at his waist and ended with slow languid kiss. Spent, and panting but eager to continue with more, Keith nipped at Lance’s lower lip when he broke away. 

“I enjoyed what we did yesterday.” Keith whispered as he progressed his kisses down Lance’s jaw. “But other parts of me missed you.”

“Oh? Missed me how?” Lance settled on the floor and pulled Keith down onto his lap so he could hold him closer. He rested his hands on those pale hips. “This way?” He pushed himself up a little, rubbing against him. 

“Yes! Like that!” Keith’s face burned as he looped his arms around Lance’s neck, resting them on his dark shoulders. In the glow from the dying fire Lance’s skin reflected the dim light, spreading it over the expense of his back and along the curve of his neck. The glint it created in his eyes would have been hellish on anyone else, but the oceanic depths reformed the gleam into the twilight serenity of a mirror calm lake. Keith understood the plight of those embers in ways no one else could comprehend. Every aspect of himself transformed into something more under his gaze. He became something tender, sweet, and unrepentantly docile. 

Lance kept his hands on Keith’s hips and watched his face. There was nothing but them, the dying fire in the wood stove, and the sound of rain pelting against the old wooden sides of the storage room-turned barracks. He shifted his hips so he was more comfortable sitting on the cold, hard floor, but also so he wasn’t pressing against Keith too much. “You know, I enjoyed what we did yesterday too. It felt like you and I had finally become two parts of a whole.” He pressed his lips to Keith’s and smiled against them. “But, honestly, I think I prefer holding you, even if it’s nice to be held once in a while.”

“Hmm? Do I feel that good?” Keith couldn’t keep the heavily accented purr out of his voice as he nipped once more at Lance’s lower lip.

“Nnn. Of course you do. You feel amazing around me.” Lance rubbed himself against Keith as though that would prove his point. “I think about it all the time.”

“All the time? How do you think of it?” Keith let a whimper out of his lips as he felt his lower body twitch in anticipation, the only logical part left of his brain reminded him of the steps they need to take. Keith’s body had not been familiarized to Lance’s touch. He needed the extra caress and the time to open up. “Do you have what we need?” 

“All the time. And in every way, honestly.” Lance whispered and kissed him again. “I wasn’t going to just push into you, though you are on me. I can’t get the salve from here, so I’m going to tease you instead.”

“Nm… I didn’t know you were the cruel type.” Keith kissed him, pressing his weight against his chest to get himself deeper into his mouth, holding him up as they leaned back further, with a hand against the small of Lance’s back and his other arm bracing against the floor. Keith kissed him until he stood up, body bent over Lance, his hair slipping off his shoulders and veiling their faces. 

“The floor will hurt you. Where would you like me? The couch, the table or the bed?” Keith asked, holding a gentleman’s hand out for Lance to take. 

“Nnn. So many choices. How about all?” Lance grinned as he looked up at him. “And foreplay isn’t cruel, is it?” He leaned up and kissed one of Keith’s hips. “I just want to make you feel good. It doesn’t matter to me where I do that, as long as you moan my name.”

Keith titled his head, confused when Lance bypassed his hand, but then couldn’t fight the whimper from such an intimate kiss. “Ah!” His voice pitched up into a sound he never heard come from his lips, he tried to block it with the back of his wrist. 

“La..lance…” Keith wondered if Lance had an awareness for the dangerous proximity his lips had on the lion’s paw stretching around his waist

“Hm? Something wrong?” Lance kissed that spot once more before he took Keith’s still extended hand and stood as well. He grinned at him before wrapping his arms around him and kissing his lips. “Where do you prefer?”

“Anywhere.” Dark, dreamy eyes followed Lance, watching his lips move, feeling the urge to kiss him again and obeying it.

“Oh? Helpful. So everywhere?” Lance returned the kiss before he stepped away, walking through the doorway into the sleeping area. “Will you be able to handle it?” He called back to Keith, grabbing a container of medicinal salve from his dresser drawer, and walking back through the doorway, eyes locking on the other man’s perfect body. He smiled as he admired away the dying light illuminated his skin.

“Handle it?” Keith shook his head when Lance stepped out of the room. He had been gone for less than a minute, yet the seconds he spent standing in the center of the room seemed to go on forever. The small space felt vast. All heat dissipated and left Keith standing naked, void of the warmth he relished moments before. Thin arms curled around his stomach, hearing soldiers outside. Their boots stomping in the mud and torn grass. His nails bit into his elbows and the dawning of how far he stood in enemy territory crashed around him like broken stain glass. The door jostled. Keith’s heart jumped. “La-!” He started to yell for him and the tall figure appeared in the doorway. “nce…”

“What? What’s wrong?” Lance’s brows lifted as he regarded his lover. He had only stepped out for a moment, but Keith seemed so off because of it. “Are you okay? Did the wind startle you?”

“Wind?” One side of Keith’s lips twitched up into a ghost of a smile before he stepped over to him, wrapping one arm around his neck and letting his forehead rest against his chest. He hid the small quakes in his body by kissing Lance’s collar, following the line of his artery to the curve of his jaw. “I’m okay.”

The trembling was subtle, but Lance felt it. He wrapped his arms around Keith and held him close, his lips pressing against the top of his head. “I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to worry about that, okay?” He whispered and rested his unoccupied hand on his back. “Why don’t we go to the bed?”

“Anything you want.” The smaller man whispered, chiding himself for getting scared and daring to have the passing thought anything could happen to him while he was under the protection of Lance’s roof. All the nightmare fueled stories and Shiro’s over protective warnings laid waste to Keith’s abilities to process the here and now. The moment had past, and in its wake stood the fractured essences of a man. He needed to trust Lance more. He had to believe in him and break away from myths of bogeymen. 

“I want you to be comfortable and happy with me. If you’re scared, that’s ok. Let me make you feel better.” Lance whispered, still holding Keith in his arms for a minute. When he let go, he never broke contact, his hands sliding down his arms until his darker fingers intertwined with Keith’s paler ones. He gently urged him through the doorway and to his bed, smiling at him the whole time. Something had made Keith nervous, and Lance needed to soothe him, so he did his best.

“I’ll be okay.” Keith sat down on the bed. “My imagination got a carried away.” He sat on his hands, one leg with anxious rhythm. “I feel so uncool.”

“I think you’re cool.” Lance sat next to him, his hand stroking Keith’s cheek. “Well whatever it is, whatever made you feel like that, I won’t let it happen to you.” 

Keith smiled, his eye brows furrowing as he looked up at Lance, his leg slowing. “You don’t even know what it was.” 

“You’re right, and you don’t have to tell me, but I can make several guesses.” Lance rested his other hand on Keith’s bouncing leg as his fingers slid along Keith’s jaw. “No one is going to come in here and hurt you. I am not going to hurt you.” His fingers slid along the pale column of his neck. “This is the safest place for you on this base. No one comes here because Hunk and I are dark-skinned. Even our bosses don’t come here. They wait until we’re out and about to summon us. So rest assured you will be fine here.”

The leg stilled as Keith leaned with Lance’s touch, letting the feather light weight of it lay him back. His neck and chest arched in a slow wave to follow Lance’s caress while heeding the unspoken request. 

“Just relax. Let me take care of you.” Lance whispered, leaning down to kiss his neck as his fingers continued their descent.

“You did take care of me.” Keith gasped, closing his eyes. He let himself drift and sink into the touch of Lance’s hand. It was cool against his fevered skin, but he could feel the temperature of his flesh rising with the rush of his blood. Lance’s fingertips had rough callouses on their tips caused by training, and no amount of vanity would cure them. Keith liked the way they graced over his stomach and troubled the fine hairs.

“And I will keep taking care of you.” Lance’s fingers stopped when they reached his navel. He spread his hand out flat against Keith’s heating flesh, as though he could stabilize them both amidst these feelings. “I will take care of you today, tomorrow, and every day after. As long as you’ll have me. Even if you won’t anymore.” His lips trailed up his neck, over his jaw and to his lips. “I will never abandon you.”

“That’s a weighty promise.” Keith whispered. “How do you plan to keep something like that?” He raised a finger to stroke under Lance’s eye. “If war breaks out tomorrow? If they deploy you, if they discharge you, if they deport you, come to me. I’ve said it before. I’ll protect you. We’ll run. Go someplace else. You’re part of ‘us’ now.” He leaned up the inch it took to kiss Lance again. “You belong to me. Not them.”

Lance smiled and kissed him. “You’re so cute.” He felt warmth in his chest when Keith spoke like that. The warmth that came from being loved, needed, and protected. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I won’t be going anywhere if something happens. My injury was minor, but because it was caused by a squad mate, I’m actually more of a risk now. I’m more likely to grow paranoid and distrust my troop, so they won’t put me on active combat duty again. It’s why they agreed to my proposals. Keep me busy. Keep me from wanting to go back out because I have other things to do. Then they don’t risk me snapping and killing their men. And if they discharge me, I get to stay here with you. If they try to deport me, they run the risk of me telling the Japanese government about their spying.” He grinned. “I have more cards up my sleeve than they know. I am better off now than I was before I met you.”

“Who knew you were so manipulative.” Keith smirked, his fang showing for just a second before he kissed Lance again. “Still. I won’t let them have you. This says where you belong.” He traced the lion tattoo. 

Lance’s lips parted as jolts of pleasure shot from Keith’s fingers on his tattoo. “I’m just fighting for what I want. And that’s you.”

“Show me.” Keith looped his finger along the curl of the blue lion’s tail before he laid his hand back beside his head, the other resting on Lance’s hip. “Show me you want me.”

“Gladly.” Lance kissed him, the hand that was resting flat on Keith’s stomach now slid down and over one of his hips. The other took Keith’s hand from his own hip and brought it around so Keith could feel his hardened sex. “See? I want you.”

Keith offered a smile which only curved to one side of his lips. “I can see that but,” He uncurled his hand from the swelling heat, and allowed only the tip of one finger to tease down the seam an back up to press against the tip. “Show me what you plan to do with it.”

“Oh, now you’re being demanding.” Lance groaned and slid his hand from Keith’s hip to mimic the action on Keith’s heat. “Will you be satisfied if I do? Or will you ask for more?”

“I’ll ask for more.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s ear, whimpering against it before whispering. “If it’s you, I’ll want more. Always more.”

“Oh? Well, I better get started then.” Lance curled his hand around Keith and grinned. “So you can be as pleased as possible.”

“Ah!” Keith cried out, need accenting his voice as he grabbed Lance’s hand. “D-don’t tease me, you know what I want. Please. Lance.” White thighs spread wider in silent offering and the pretend maiko pled one more time in a honey dipped tone. “Please.”

“I wasn’t planning on teasing you.” Lance’s hand moved over his heat, but after a few seconds he pulled his hand away. “But this isn’t what you want is it?” He grabbed the medicinal salve from before and coated his fingers with it. “You want something else.” And with an arched brow, he pushed a finger into Keith. “This maybe?”

“Nm!” Keith sighed, his hand wrapping around Lance’s sex as he bit down on his bottom lip.

Lance watched his face as he moved his hand, readying Keith with the first, and then a second finger. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Keith rewarded every thrust of Lance’s fingers with a stroke of his hand. “Aah, yes! Yes!” He tightened and moved his hips against Lance. Grinding and squeezing his body in tiny micro experiments as he closed his eyes trying to figure out how to feel more and control the way he took what Lance gave him.

Lance groaned a little. Keith was doing his best to drive him crazy, wasn’t he? He moved his fingers a little faster, whimpering in anticipation for Keith to speed up his own movements, his hips pushing himself towards that touch. 

Keith complied, speeding his hand up until he became too focused on Lance’s fingers to notice how his own moved over the needy weeping flesh he held. His thumb rubbed circles over the tip before sliding back down smearing to first signs of Lance’s pleasure down the side of his sex.

“Fuck.” Lance muttered between moans. He had to pull his hand back because Keith’s movement on his heat made his concentration completely falter. “I’m…I’m going to…” He looked down at Keith, cheeks flushed as he watched the way his lover’s cheeks pinked and chest heaved as they both built their pleasure. “Let me do it in you…?”

“Eh?” Keith opened his eyes when Lance pulled away. The confusion lasted for mere seconds, and he nodded his head. “Aa. You can.” The way Lance asked raised thrill in Keith’s stomach. It was both embarrassing yet sexy. A shiver ran through him, to join the several quivers present. 

“Inside. I want you.” Keith heard his English breaking down, finding it harder for him to focus on his words while so many of his mental facilities had been diverted or shut off.

Lance nodded and groaned a little as he lined himself up, holding Keith’s hips to keep himself from just thrusting in, but he couldn’t handle being so patient when he wanted Keith so badly, and after a moment he pushed inside, climaxing as soon as Keith’s heat surrounded him. “Ah!”

“Nnn!” Keith purred a groan as Lance’s heat spread inside of him. “Lance…” He reached his hand out and walked his fingers up his lover’s stomach to his navel, his inner muscles working their way over him after practicing on Lance’s other extremities. “Me too… Make me come too…” His accent thicker and broken than he ever had to the pride to allow before.

“Nnn. How….are you so sexy?” That accent only turned him on more. Lance moaned and started to move his hips although his body filled with heat. Keith’s movements were almost too good, but Lance needed to do what he could to bring pleasure to his lover. So he moved a little faster, one hand sliding from holding Keith’s hip to curling around his sex. “Ah!”

“Lance…” Keith drew his nails lightly back down Lance’s stomach and against his thighs until his thrusts pulled him away from his reach, and he hand no choice but to feel his own heated and spread flesh. He dragged his questing fingers back up his body. “Een…” His voice now little whimpers of raw pleasure, no longer distilled by a foreign tongue. “La..lance… ii… k..ki…mo…ah! O… oneg..ai… ah!” 

Lance didn’t think it was possible for Keith to sound any sexier, but there he was, moaning in broken Japanese, and he was overwhelmed by how arousing that actually was. His hips thrust and his hand moved faster, but slightly out of rhythm with each other. “Ah! Fuck!”

“K…isushite…. “ Keith reached his hand out to Lance. His eyes desperate and dark. “K-kis…kiss…”

Lance’s lips moved to that hand first, kissing his palm before he leaned down and kissed his lips, the action pushing their bodies closer together. The movement of his hand slowed, but there was more heat between them now, and so it caused him to move his own hips faster. Anything to feel good with Keith.

Keith kissed him, pitching his arms around his neck. It didn’t feel like this before. The fire, heat, and pleasure of their embrace overwhelmed him. It possessed every part of him that had a nerve to feel, and each of those points now belonged exclusively to Lance. “M..mo..otto… ah! Motto hayaku… AH!” 

That desperate voice was too much. Lance’s thrusts were hard and fast, and his moans were constant as he tried to kiss Keith between panting breaths. He was losing control of his body, and he didn’t care.

“Lance!” Keith cried out in warning. “i-ikisouda!” His head tossed back, ebony locks fanning out around him like the halo of a fallen angel. Strands caught up on the sweat of his chest and neck, sticking to his parted lips uncaring of broken half sobs of pleasure still dripping from their pink and swollen flesh. He laid frozen in the throe of his climax. His lower body contracting and emptying against their stomachs.

Lance came with Keith, the smaller man’s climax pushing him over the edge. He moaned and pressed his fingers into Keith’s hips even as his hand slackened around his heat. And with each emptying thrust, he moaned and gasped Keith’s name. The intensity of it all sent small shocks throughout his body.

“Nn.” Keith groaned, his greedy body taking all Lance gave it before settling back, the muscles in his hips, thighs and stomach burning with unaccustomed use. Very few things worked the body like sex. “L..lance…saikou…datta…” He whimpered before his mind drifted back to him. “Mmm Incredible...”

He practically fell out of Keith as he tried to regain his composure, but even as Lance laid next to his lover, the heaving of his chest was a sure sign that it was going to take a while for him to come down from that high. His head turned and he looked at Keith, eyes still reflecting a bit of that need, but it was subdued, satisfied, and he smiled. “Yeah, you are.”

~~~~~~~~~~

With no small effort Keith lifted himself up to lay against Lance’s chest. Corralling his sex tossed hair over one shoulder to spill across his dark stomach and onto the bed. He stared up at Lance, his violet eyes glittered in the moonlight, capturing every silver ray of light in their infinite facets. 

“Hm?” Lance’s arms looped around Keith and his lips nuzzled his hair. He was still panting a bit, and his body still twitched with the last aftershocks of their love. “You sounded really sexy,” He whispered, “was it that good?”

“Yeah.” Keith whispered, nuzzling and kissing idly at his chest, feeling his heart below his lips. “It was really good. Better than before. Better than the warehouse.” The blush finally blossomed again on his pale cheeks. “It’s like my body is remembering you.”

“Oh? So does that mean it was forgetting me? That’s a little sad” Lance tightened his hold on Keith, nuzzling into his hair. 

“No.” Keith’s voice had become a lazy purr. Every note drizzling with satisfaction. “Mm, my body though.” An aftershock shuddered through him, finally letting him bask in the glow of what’d done. “My body is perfect for you. Your shape. Your heat. All of you, fits so well…”

“It does.” Lance shifted, holding Keith a bit more comfortably. “You’re the only one I want to be with, and no one else will ever make me feel the way you do.” 

“Good. I want to be the only one who can drive you crazy.”

“You’ll always be the only one.” Lance’s voice dropped to a whisper as he closed his eyes. “No one else.”

“It’s the same for me too, you know. Just you and only you.”

“That makes me feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy inside. I don’t want to give you up to anyone.” Lance held Keith closer.

“Warm and fuzzy, huh?” Keith chuckled opening his eyes to see his lover’s face. “Good to know, but I’ll be heading home tomorrow. It’s not very safe for you or me if I stay here. And Sam wanted to speak to me about something. So it’s best if I head back.”

Lance sighed. “Alone?” He didn’t like the idea of letting Keith go. He already shared his misgivings about his treatments, and if it was another one of those, what was he supposed to do? “Do you have to?”

“You’re back on active duty. It’s not like you can just go when you want. I can handle going to my home alone.” Keith arched one brow. He certainly painted a sad image of himself for Lance, hadn’t he? “I’ll stay with Pidge. Okay?”

“But I can just go out when I want. That’s the point of my new job, isn’t it?” Lance sighed again and rested his head back on the pillow. “Okay, but I just don’t think you should let him do another treatment on you, that’s all.”

“It scares you that much? Even though you know I’m different?” Keith leaned up so he could look into Lance’s face, his fingers twisting into his hair.

“Of course it scares me.” Lance lifted his head again, looking at him. “You were so unwell that day I came to the shop, and it was the morning after. It doesn’t matter why he’s doing it. I don’t like it. I don’t like the bruises the process leaves on your legs afterwards.” He lifted a hand and touched Keith’s cheek. 

“Lance.” Keith leaned his head into his hand. He wanted to say something like ‘Shiro would never let me do anything that was hurting me’ but Keith knew better than to bring up his name right now. “I’d tell you not to worry so much, but I kind of like that you care that much.” He kissed his palm, the sexual flush still staining them red.

“Even if you told me not to worry, I still would.” Lance watched Keith. “If you won’t let me go with you, will you at least promise me you won’t let him give you a treatment unless I’m there?”

Keith folded his fingers into the hand holding his cheek, kissing each finger then down to his wrist before those gemstone eyes focused back on Lance. “All right. If that make it easier for you.”

“It would make me feel a lot better about it. If I can at least see it’s not as bad as I think it is. I know you say it’s important because of what you can do, but…” Lance’s lips twitched into a half smile. 

“Alright. You can watch next time. I mean it won’t be pretty, but you can still watch, and I’ll have him take from someplace else. My arms should be good again. Ugh.. one time he had to take from here…” Keith turned and showed Lance the small scar to the right of a freckle on his lower back. “That was a bad day.”

Lance’s finger traced that scar with a feather light touch. “Okay. I mean I’d prefer it not happening at all, but if I can protect you at least a little, I will.”

“This is Pidge’s father. Not a mad scientist.” Keith turned back around. “Though I can see how the two might seem one in the same.” 

“I know. And he’s been nice to me. I just don’t like it. I don’t have to like it, do I?” Lance’s fingers slid around to his stomach when Keith turned. “Maybe it’s because I love you so much.”

Keith’s face flared up and his body temperature seemed to spike ten degrees. “I… well… uug…” Keith melted into a puddle, his face down against Lance’s chest as his arms covered his head. “Come on, you can’t just spring that on me.” Keith lifted his head, one shy eye showing above a red cheek.

“Well, I just did.” Lance chuckled. “And you’re really happy. You like it.” His hand rested on top of Keith’s head and ruffled his hair. “You’ve wanted me to say it from the first day you realized you feel the same way about me.”

“I’ve wanted you to say it since the day you slept in my bed and held on to me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe.” Keith’s face poked out a little more, trying to keep eye contact but getting defeated by his own embarrassment and rushing heartbeat. “I’d never been held like that before, like you were afraid to let go.” 

“Well, I am afraid to let you go now.” Lance’s lips stayed in a slight smile even as he leaned in and pressed them to Keith’s forehead. “I can’t stand sleeping without you in my arms. I never want to do it again, if I can help it.”

Keith’s face hid again, and sound akin to a whimper crossed with a whine came up from the ebony mane. “You did it again! You just say stuff like that!”

“Would you rather I don’t say anything at all?” Lance’s lips were in Keith’s hair now that he was hiding again. 

“No.” Came a tiny voice. “What’s the best way to handle it?” Keith’s question was honest and unsure without a hint of tease or sarcasm.

“I do like how you’re handling it now. It’s adorable and it makes me love you more.”

“You think I’m adorable right now?” Keith leaned up again, his lip caught in his teeth. “Not awkward?”

“Absolutely adorable and definitely not awkward.” Lance tapped Keith’s lip. 

“And you like it?” Keith finally met Lance’s eyes again.

“I do. A lot.” Lance smiled. “I like everything about you, but especially this.”

“Okay then.” Keith looked to the right, then left before he wrapped his arms around Lance, forcing their way between him and the bed so he could curl in tight against him. “I love you.” He whispered into his neck. “And everything you do, and how you make me feel about myself. That’s it’s okay to love you and to let you love me, and that it’s okay if I don’t know how to do everything and that I suck at certain things but you’re weird and still like that stuff to, or that I ramble when I’m nervous or happy…”

“I like all of it.” Lance murmured and held Keith as close as he possibly could. “I like when you ramble, or when you look at me when you think I won’t notice. I like the way your cheeks turn pink when you’re embarrassed or happy. When you smile. When you hum or sing softly when you think I’m asleep.” He grinned. “And I’m glad I make you feel good about yourself because to me, you’re the most amazing person in the world.”

“Damnit.” Those arms tightened. “Idiot.” 

Lance blinked. Keith’s face pressed something warm and wet against his neck. “Your idiot, though.” He whispered. 

“My idiot.” Keith’s voice quivered with the shaking breath of controlled tears. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me, just love me.” Lance rubbed Keith’s back with slow, soothing motions. 

“That’s the easiest thing I can do.” Keith’s arms tightened one more time before he settled against him.

“Then neither of us have to worry, hm?” Lance whispered.

“Hmm.” Keith nuzzled in closer, his nose nestling into fringes of Lance’s hair. “You’re perfect.”

“It makes me happy you think so, since I think you’re the perfect one.”

“I can’t sleep without you either.” Keith admitted. “Come over tomorrow night.”

“Okay. I will.” Lance whispered and nuzzled his hair. “And every night if you want me.”

“Every night.” Keith sighed the words out as he sleep took told.

Lance just held Keith for several more moments before he let himself drift as well.

\-----

It took Keith three attempts to leave in the morning. The first try, Lance thwarted him with a morning massage ending with Keith crying out into the twin mattress. The second try ended a lot of the same way, but Keith made it to the living room before they pressed themselves up against the wall, locked into a fevered embrace of gripping flesh and gripping hair. The third try was successful only because Keith forced Lance to stand guard outside of the shower room, so he could clean himself up without having to run to Shay’s. He topped the experience off with a threat of never letting him finish inside him again if clean up proved to be too much of a hassle. The threat worked with an added promise to see each other that night.

Keith wasn’t an idiot. Lance’s behavior had more to do with keeping Keith occupied and with him than it did with any urges the Cuban had. Lance demonstrated more carnal control than Keith, so he didn’t buy his sudden surge of sexual expression. Keith knew he shouldn’t be surprised by it. Everyone in his life wanted to protect him. He knew he was fully capable. He was independent, made his own money, and could fight better than most people. Keith became dumbfounded when those closest to him latched on with a fierceness he couldn’t understand. 

Lost in thought he approached the shop, his hand pushing the door open and the familiar chime of the bell, quirking up his lips. Be it ever so humble…

“Hey Pid-ge?” Keith stepped through the threshold. Hair on the back of his neck stood up. Little antennas warning his instincts of what his eyes could see. The shop was dark, shades drawn from the night before. However, the conveyer belt hopped and buzzed toward the work bench. Cocked on its side, the tea pot made the rounds with water still sloshing inside, no steam rose from the spout and both tea cuts laid in broken bits on the floor. From the operation room a horrible whirring sound came with a smell of burning rubber. 

“What the hell?” Keith jumped the counter in a dash to hit the emergency stop. Following the smell, he found the conveyer’s gears and belt were spinning dry, oil long since used up and never replenished. Pidge would never have left a machine in such a cruel state.

“Pidge!? Shiro!?” Keith yelled as he darted around the shop, heart going cold and panic rising to his throat as arms came around him and a cloth over his mouth. “HMMPH!”

“Shhshhshh..” A familiar voice soothed as Keith fought, pushing his whole weight into the person behind him and shoving them both against the shelving, knocking it to the floor with a crash of metallic springs and screws. The arms holding him tightened, determined yet trembling with the force applied to make sure they wouldn’t let go. The hand over his mouth squeezed and gave Keith another heady hit of the chemical inside, leaving him too woozy to fight. He slumped to the floor. The person behind him making sure the fall was gentle as he did. 

Clarity came and went. Keith felt a table under him and familiar hands against his forehead gently telling him to stay asleep and to be still. Chemicals assaulted his noses and sharp pains filled his arms and legs as he felt heat being drained out of him. There had been shouting, angry shouting, from somewhere. 

“Shiro?” Could the man even reach those levels of anger? He was irate, but Keith couldn’t understand what was being said, and the world spun the more he tried to make sense of it. Instead he focused on something he hadn’t seen before. A white curtain had been pushed to the side, and there was a huge chamber of blue bubbling liquid. Keith thought it was interesting, and he idly noticed dark crimson tubing heading from his table and into the top of the compartment. Is that where it all went? Did he care right now? Not really. But something moved inside it. Keith begged his eyes to focus. Something moved. A dark slender… hand? Was that a hand?

A crash came from behind him and Keith heard Shiro’s cry of agony before weathered hands returned to touch Keith’s forehead. His drug dulled eyes focusing on the kindly wrinkled face. “S-sam?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Culture and Translation Notes**  
>   
> 
>  _Sakura, Sakura:_ This is a traditional Japanese Folk song. The musical arrangement has been around since the Edo period with lyrics being added during the Meiji. Keith is just kind of humming/singing the song because like most children in Japan he learned it as a child and for him it's one of those songs that just stick. If you want to hear it follow the link below  
> [ **Sakura, Sakura** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJnEt391nU)  
> _ii… k..ki…mo…ah! O… oneg..ai…_ Haha broken jibberish honestly, but Keith was trying to say ii (good) Komochii (feels good) Onegai (Please). He was just unable to form a full sentence at that time in English or Japanese  
>  _Kisushite_ Kiss me. (Also, just cause I love this. The way Keith's name is pronounced in Japanese is really super close to Kisu. Teehee)  
>  _motto hayaku_ Go Faster. Hurry up. More Faster. (take your pick)  
>  _ikisouda_ A more male way of saying "I'm cumming"  
>  _saikou datta_ That was amazing!!  
>  Please note talking like this is not necessarily common and a lot of this is slang and slang changes over time. Please do not use these terms in a new relationship if you ever find your self with a Japanese speaking lover. These are terms generally saved for drama/fiction/novels/manga/tv/etc. And something you may pull out of your hat for an established on going relationship MAYBE.


	14. Sakuraso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R For blood and violence~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Primrose** _Sakurasō 桜草_ \- Desperate 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

Lance threw down his notebook for the third time in ten minutes. Keith had only been gone for about twenty, but he was already going stir crazy. He shouldn’t have been. It wasn’t like he was just sitting around. He was back in the warehouse finalizing his supply numbers. He just couldn’t concentrate. Not when there was a gnawing feeling in his gut. A weight descended on his entire body and made it difficult for him to concentrate.

He tried to distract Keith enough to keep him from going back to the shop early this morning. He tried to delay him long enough that Keith would just ask him to come with him to ease his worries. It didn’t work, and Keith threatened their sex life instead. And while Lance didn’t believe it, and he knew Keith wouldn’t actually follow through, he knew he was annoying the other man, and so he dropped it. But it bothered him. He couldn’t just sit here when that man was waiting for Keith. Maybe his fears were unfounded, but his mother always told him to go with his gut.

And his gut told him to go to Keith.

So he put his notebook back into his pocket, and he left the warehouse, pausing only long enough to lock it before running to his barracks. If his fears were unfounded, he wouldn’t need his pistol, but if his gut was right...he hoped he wasn’t right.

About half an hour after Keith left him, Lance was walking quickly down the main thoroughfare that led to the base. He stared at the road ahead of him, completely blocking out the sights and sounds that normally would have gotten his attention. He kept his hands in his pockets, his fists clenched as though that would ease his worries. 

It didn’t.

Pidge waiting for him a block away from the shop only made the thumping in his chest and the rolling in his stomach worse. The lion on his arm burned, and his eyes narrowed. She looked distressed, or as distressed as someone who was used to hiding themselves could look. She said nothing, but she pressed a set of keys into his hand. He didn’t recognize them, but the look on her face told him exactly which door they were for.

He didn’t have time. She knew this. He knew this. So he simply nodded and ran to the shop. The door was open. Maybe Pidge rigged it that way so the sound of the bell wouldn’t alert anyone. Maybe it was from the struggle that clearly occurred here, with an entire shelf and its contents scattered around the store. His heart pounded, and the rush of blood made the throbbing of his pulse echo loudly in his ears. He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t hear anyone. He took quick, but quiet steps towards that door that was always locked. Still nothing. He knew it. He unlocked the door with the keys Pidge gave him and moved it inch by inch, eyes narrowed as he anticipated any squeak or creak giving him away, but the door was well-oiled and opened easily. Pidge must have seen to that, too.

He crept through the darkened hallway, craning his neck as though he could hear something. He did. He definitely heard a shout and a thud. The lion once again burned before all of the heat seemed to vanish from his arm, replaced with icy needles, the pricks of numbness spreading down to his fingers. That numb hand moved and pulled the pistol from its holster as he took calculated steps down the stairs. There was a doorway down another hallway, and an eerie blueish light flickered from that room. 

He didn’t know how many minutes passed since he heard the shout and the thud. He didn’t know if his mind was playing tricks on him as he neared that door and thought he heard Keith’s pleading voice. But when he got to that doorway, everything stopped. Shiro was crumpled on the floor, clearly having been hit with something very heavy. Sam was holding some sort of mask and was standing over Keith, who was strapped down on a metal table, tubes coming from his legs and arms. Treatment. No, this wasn’t treatment. This was death. And as Sam started to fasten that mask to Keith’s face, Lance’s body moved, completely numbed by the ice that seemed to flow through his veins. A thrust of his arm, the butt of his gun hitting Sam in the temple and knocking him to the floor. Lance didn’t even look at him as he pointed the barrel at the old man’s forehead, unseeing, unthinking as his other hand pulled the mask and the tubes away from Keith. Nothing. There was nothing if Keith was gone. 

“If you move, I will put this bullet right between your eyes.” Was that his voice? Calm, emotionless. His hand rested over the worst of Keith’s wounds as if that would prevent him from bleeding any more now that the tubes had been cleared. He could feel the warmth spread sluggishly over his palm. His head moved, and his eyes rested on the old man on the floor. Dull. Devoid of any warmth of life. “Or maybe I should kill you anyway, Sam?” Cold. Murderous. There would be nothing without Keith.

“Hn?” Keith swallowed, the simple movement appearing strained and painful, made worse by his ashen pallor.

“L-lance?” Bluing lips whispered. It hurt, even the words pressing past is throat felt of sandpaper and grit. His breathing quick and shallow.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Sam pressed his hand over the crack in his skull. “You can’t remove the specimen now! Not now! At these stages! It will ruin everything we’ve done!”

“The specimen? Go fuck yourself!” Lance growled and pushed the gun closer to his forehead. “Do you want me to fucking shoot you? Are you that deranged? What about Pidge and Matt? Do you want them to know that I had to kill their fucking lunatic of a father? I don’t give a shit if it ruins whatever sick shit you had going on here.” Lance’s eyes were wide, wild. He was losing himself, and the only thing keeping him grounded was the hand he had on Keith’s leg.

“You have no idea what you’re messing with! What it does! What it can do!! Katie and Matt would understand!” Sam yelled back his eyes pinned, little reason left inside the man. 

“No. They wouldn’t. None of us would.” Shiro’s strained voice came from behind the men. Blood seeped down his face, blinding one eye but the pain he fought back still lived in the other. “This is not what was supposed to happen! You were supposed to be helping us. Not hurting him.” He limped over, but a kept wide birth from Lance. 

Lance’s eyes moved to Shiro and narrowed. “Get him out of here. I don’t give a shit what you do, but this is just as much your fault as his. If you don’t get him out of here, I’m going to end up killing him.”

Shiro opened his mouth, but closed it again and grabbed Sam’s arms, yanking him up from the floor. “You’ll take care of him?”

“Who do you think I am? Right now, getting Sam away is your concern. Go.” Lance kept the pistol steady, still aimed at Sam’s head until Shiro dragged him out of the room. When they were out of sight, Lance let out a puff of air and put the gun away, quickly ripping whatever cloth he could find and wrapping it around Keith’s wounds. If he could just stop the bleeding. “Keith. Look at me Keith. I’m going to get you out of here and bandage you up okay?”

“Hand.” Keith whispered. Lance said something. He asked him, no he told him to do something. What did he need to do? Look at him? Stay awake? He forced his eyes open again, gathering just enough will to keep them half mast. He hurt so much. His heart pounded in his chest. Sweat, cold and sticky, slicked his hair to his face. His legs burned, his arms burned. The smell of blood over powering and nauseating. “Lance. I’m tired…”

Lance picked him up. He knew Keith would be too weak to hold onto him, but he did his best getting him up both flights of stairs. “It’s okay now. You don’t have to talk. Just look at me. Stay with me. Stay awake.” He managed to open the door to Keith’s studio and got him into the bathroom, setting him down in the tub. “Don’t leave me, okay?” He did his best to keep his voice calm as he washed those wounds and spread the medical salve. He tried to keep his eyes from watering as he wrapped clean bandages around his arms and legs. “Don’t ever leave me.” He did his best to keep his voice steady, but there was so much blood.

“Where am I going?” Keith sounded childlike and thinned. “I’m too tired to go anywhere…”

“You lost so much blood.” The adrenaline started to fade, and Lance’s hands trembled as he finished wrapping the last wound. He winced when blood seeped through the bandages. It didn’t stop. He needed it to stop. He couldn’t lose Keith. 

“Hand.” Keith strained, his head lulling as if he were a rag doll. “There’s a hand… Lance…”

Lance looked at him, opening his mouth to speak, but his lips trembled. “I…I don’t understand. What? Are you…?”

“You should plug the drain and let the basin fill up with warm water, you want to keep his body temperature up.” A small nasal voice came from the middle of the apartment, too afraid to step forward. Pidge kept her eyes to the side, too ashamed to raise her head, a tear stained face, dirty overalls, and three potted plants held under arm. She seemed unsure and out of her element, but she stood her ground on trembling legs.

Lance turned his head and looked out the doorway of the bathroom. “Pidge… I…. he’s…” Words escaped him but he plugged the drain of the tub and started the water. His whole body felt cold. Keith was leaving him. What was he going to do now? “Help me…”

“Can I? Are you sure?” Pidge took a step forward, hugging her plants closer to her chest. “You trust me?”

“Pidge?” Keith rolled his head, his expression pained by more than his injuries. Everyone looked so upset and he couldn’t make sense of anything. “D-did I do something? I’m …”

“You wouldn’t have come up here if I couldn’t trust you. You wouldn’t have given me the key, either.” Lance sighed and took Keith’s hand, shaking his head if only to prevent tears from forming in his eyes. “No. No Keith. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re so good…”

“Good… but you’re sad. Pidge too. Pidge!” With a jerk Keith sat straight up before his body gave out and he slumped over the edge of the bath. “Your father...” His chest hurt so much. His heart working hard just to keep him conscious. “I think… I think I hurt him. I think..” Keith’s voice trailed off as he stared at the floor, strength waning to nothing as he breathed with the exertion of a marathon run. 

Lance somehow managed not to die from stress when Keith tried to move and slumped forward. His eyes watered as he carefully shifted Keith so he was no longer slumping over. “Don’t…Please.”

“O-okay.” The small shop keep took a deep breath and stepped forward, unbothered by Keith’s state of undress. Her eyes became sharp and focused as soon as her foot hit the tile. 

“The lion is fading. We have to do this quickly.” Her voice lost the unsure tremors, nodding to the dimming shades of the once vibrant tattoo. “I’ll make this fast and I’ll explain more when you both wake up.” She placed her hand on Lance’s shoulder. “This is gonna be a crash course. I told you we all have certain abilities that align with alchemic properties in our DNA. You have water. You can help him. I’m going to need you to listen, do as I say, and don’t question me. Can you do that?”

Lance nodded mutely, clutching Keith’s hand as if that would keep his own from trembling. “I don’t care what happens to me. Just don’t let him die. Please, Pidge…”

“All right. Put your hands into the water. Close your eyes and think of it like you’re melting, like um..like.”

“An Ice cube.. ice cubes melt.” Keith whispered proud of himself. 

Pidge laid her hand on the top of the older man’s head with pure fondness and worry softening her features. “Yes. Like a melting ice cube. Feel the difference between the water and where his blood pollutes it.”

Lance let go of Keith’s hand, whimpering a little when he did so, but he put his hands into the water as directed and closed his eyes. He felt the cold surge in his body again, but he focused, and he tried to imagine what it would be like if he were an ice sculpture placed out in the Cuban sun. Cold, but melting. Alone, but spreading. “O—okay,” he whispered. 

“Do you feel it? Yourself spreading into the water and around him? Feel his blood, darker and warmer.” Pidge continued to soothe Keith’s hair.

“I feel...” Lance focused more. There was something. It was thick. He was melting and pushing against that thickness, but it kept pushing back, like water fighting against oil. “Yes…Yes!”

“Good.” Pidge reached over and with a careful hand removed the bandages from around Keith’s limbs. “Push back on it until you mold into it.” She touched upon Lance’s arm. “I’m going to cut you. You’ll need to push your blood into him. We lucked out, your dog tag said you were type O. That’s one thing working in our favor.” 

Pidge removed pocket knife from the side of her overalls and pressed the edge of the blade against Lance’s arm. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Lance’s brows furrowed, but he kept his eyes closed, and he kept focusing on that feeling. He needed to fight the oil. He needed to push it back where it belonged. He needed to save Keith.

“Okay here it comes.” Pidge slit Lance’s arm with the calm calculation of a surgeon. “Push it all back in. Feel yours blend with his and push.” 

Lance grunted, but he tried to imagine it. His essence pushing forward. The sculpture melted into the water with a bright blue shimmer, and that blue spread, finding red and pushing it back. Pushing towards a source until blue enveloped it and made it Its own. He groaned as he did it, the pain from the cut starting to permeate the vision, outlining it with flashes of black. Despite that, the sensation of pushing against the red almost felt good, but he felt spent. Like he was leaking any ounce of energy he had left. 

Keith gasped, and his teeth clenched together. “Lance!” He could feel him feel pressing inside, invading his body. The blue tendril across the red lion lit up and snaked itself around the feline body which now pulsed in a gentle blue light. “Mm…Lance…” 

“A little more. I know it’s hard. Just a bit more.” Pidge had been working on something, her hands moved with lightning speed as she flittered from one side of the tub to the other..

Lance’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he groaned, but he kept pushing. He could feel his body going colder as he gave everything to Keith. His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. The air was thin. He was on top of the coldest mountain peak. Each gasp of air was pain.

“Okay Stop stop stop.” Pidge laid her hand on Lance’s forehead. “Pull back.” She gripped Lance’s shoulders and dragged him out of the water, severing the connection. “There.” She took his arm, and with a series of fast pricks she let him go, blotting the wound dry and rubbing a salve on it. “I’ve sutured it with bamboo thread. It should heal without a scar.”

Lance fell back to the floor, panting, his eyes snapping open at the sudden break in his concentration. A cold sweat soaked his hair. “What…what just happened?” He looked up at her, then down at his arm where the cut seemed to have been stitched together.

“Save your strength.” Pidge moved back to Keith, her small arms trying to pull the bigger man out of the bath, but she was not having an easy time of it. 

“That’s not…an answer.” Lance pushed himself back up and helped her pull Keith out of the tub. “Why am I so tired?” His arms felt noodley after the action, but he pulled Keith to his chest and held onto him possessively, but not in any real attempt to pull him away from Pidge. 

“Ah, thanks. Let’s get you both dressed warm in into bed, then I’ll explain. Okay?” Pidge offered a smile, but she had to get both her charges off the floor and someplace dry and warm. “Can you manage that much?”

“Yes. I think so.” Lance spent a few moments collecting himself, but he managed to get to his feet, carefully pulling Keith up with him. “Can you help? His weight is mostly on me, but we need some nudging.”

Pidge nodded and wrapped her arm around Keith’s midsection, still unfazed by his nakedness. When they laid him upon the bed she took three garments out of his wardrobe and passed two to Lance, taking one for herself. “Dry off, get dressed, and don’t turn around until I say okay.”

Lance nodded and did as he was told, though he hissed a little when he tried to put his arm into the sleeves of the shirt he was given. It was a bit loose on him, so he assumed it had been one of Shiro’s, a thought that darkened his expression a bit, but he knew now was not the time to complain. Besides, if he saw Shiro again any time soon, he was going to kick his ass for what he did to Keith.

“Okay. I’m good.” Pidge sat on the edge of the bed. One of Keith’s night shirts hanging past her thighs. No one could mistake her gender dressed as she was now. Water weighed her hair down; the shirt covered the still developing curves over her body but did not deny their existence. She seemed perfectly unaware of herself as one would expect of someone who grew up in the same environment as Keith. Whatever she decided to do or however she wished to present herself, she’d be absolutely lovely when she did. Now, thanks to their efforts, Keith would have Matt’s back and be there to fend off any unwanted pursuits.

A slender twig of an arm reached out and pushed Keith’s hair out of his face. The green lion tattoo coiled around the whole of her forearm appeared to try to brush its head against the semi-conscious man. “He has color now.”

Lance turned around and looked at her for a moment before he took that second shirt and carefully pulled it onto Keith, moving his injured arm a bit gingerly. “Yeah,” he whispered, his hands smoothing that shirt a bit. “Thank you for helping. He…” He shook his head. He didn’t even want to entertain the thought of Keith dying. If he had gotten there any later... He sighed and lifted one hand, running it over his face and letting out a shuddering breath, as if he couldn’t hold it together much longer. “I’m so sorry…”

“Why?” Pidge faced Lance, the low candle light catching in her glasses. Strange how those two oil lamps always seemed more than enough before, and now with Keith’s vague awareness, the room seemed dark and cold. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I wanted to kill your dad. That’s more than enough to have to apologize for.” Lance’s voice was soft, and he bowed his head. He still wanted to kill Sam for what he did to Keith, and that was shame he couldn’t quite get over.

Pidge looked back at Keith. He stared back at the two of them with uncharacteristic dull eyes. The pale skin, sunken and blue under his tired and uncomprehending features, broke Pidge’s heart to see. If someone as lively an vibrant as Keith could be so fragile, they all really were simple humans. Pidge hated to be reminded. 

“That man was not my dad.” She said, rubbing the bridge of Keith’s nose. “He hasn’t been my dad for a while now. If he could do this to someone? That’s beyond cruel. Shiro and I knew things weren’t right. He sent me to find you.”

Lance snorted before he laid down next to Keith and wrapped an arm around him protectively. “Oh. He knew hm?” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice, but he wasn’t sure if it was because there was too much of it, or if he felt too weak to play nice. “I figured out something wasn’t right the first time I heard about it, but no one really wanted to listen to me. I understand. No one wants to believe that someone they trust is hurting them. And I don’t blame anyone really. Well I blame Sam for doing it, no matter what his reasons were, but…” He sighed. “And it’s going to take me a little while to stop blaming Shiro for not stopping it sooner.” He looked at Pidge and reached up to tap her nose. “But you, I don’t blame you at all. You did what you could, and you at least backed me up slightly when I made my displeasure known.”

Pidge cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Well at least that’s something because Shiro will never forgive himself. I know you don’t want to hear about him, but until you, Shiro was the world to Keith. And for whatever their relationship was, Shiro feels responsible for him. Constantly trying to make up for something no one understands.” Pidge closed her eyes and settled in beside Keith like being close to him was second nature. Recognition lit up in Keith’s eyes and he gave her smile she aptly returned.

“What you saw in that room didn’t start in one day. Shiro’s father and my dad made a special voyage to Korea and came back with Keith and, according to Matt, he didn’t look malnourished or mistreated. So why take a perfectly happy healthy boy away from his home? Why go there in the first place? No one has an answer they want to give us.’ 

“In short, Keith didn’t ask for this. He’s always just wanted a home. People to care about,” Pidge’s lower lip trembled as tears formed in her eyes. “people to care about him. And this is what he got.” 

“I don’t know about any of that. I don’t know if I care. All I know is that he almost died today, and I don’t think I can forgive that. If I can, it won’t be any time soon.” Lance sighed and closed his eyes, turning his head to press his face into Keith’s hair. But he rested his hand on Pidge’s shoulder since she was on Keith’s other side. He patted it, maybe a bit awkwardly, but he wanted her to know he did feel bad for the way he was speaking. “And I know it’s not fair of me to be this angry when I’m the new guy, but I can’t help it.”

“You’re not a new guy. You’re one of us. Whatever binds us together as tethered itself to you to. Hate to break it to you, Army Prick,” Pidge grinned, rubbing at her tears. “But you’re stuck with us.”

“I’m sorry.” Came a delicate whisper. Lifting his hand, Keith touch Lance’s cheek. His fingers now flushed and warm. “I made you cry, didn’t I? Both of you…” Sobering clarity glittered in those eyes.

Lance managed a little smile at Pidge’s words, and he nodded. “I don’t mind being stuck with some of you.” But when Keith looked at him and touched his cheeks, his eyes closed. “No, you didn’t.” He was crying? When did that happen? He was so overwhelmed and exhausted that he hadn’t even noticed.

“You two should rest.” Pidge sat up. “I don’t have explain anything right now. Relax. I’m going to put everything downstairs into lock down, and Hunk should be here soon. I had Matt fetch him from Shay’s. So he’ll probably bring some food.” She reached over with her small hand and patted Lance on the head. “You did a good job today, Hero. Don’t forget that.”

Keith seemed confused but didn’t have the mental facilities necessary to put it all together, so he opted for the simplest thing he could. “I love you.” He whispered and nuzzled his face into Lance’s neck, exhausted.

“All right.” Lance held Keith a little closer and opened his eyes to look at Pidge. “When Hunk gets here, you two should come up here and stay with us. I’d feel better if you do.” He pressed his face into Keith’s hair once again and closed his eyes. “I think we’d both feel better…”

“Sure.” Pidge nodded over her shoulder as she left the room, taking one of Keith’s dusters with her.

“Lance.” Keith lifted his head up. “Are you okay now? Are you hurt?” Sympathetic finger tips touched upon the edge of the wound in Lance’s arm.

“I’m as okay as I can be right now. I’m not hurt.” Lance sighed and held Keith a little closer, keeping his face hidden by those raven strands. He couldn’t look at Keith right now.

“Okay. I’m tired though. Is it okay if I sleep now?”

Lance stiffened a little at the question, but he reminded himself that Keith’s was warm again. That sleeping didn’t mean he wouldn’t wake up. “Yes, of course.” He whispered the words into Keith’s hair.

“I feel weird, and heavy. And confused. Very confused.” Keith sighed. “Something happened but…”

“It’s okay. We can talk when you wake up. Just sleep.” Lance’s voice remained quiet as he held Keith closer. He needed to keep himself from crying again.

“Thank you.” A deep sigh came from the smaller man as he settled into Lance’s arms.

Lance listened to Keith’s even breathing for several minutes before he stopped struggling to stay awake, and he fell asleep soon after. 

Hours later and in the dead of night Keith stirred. His mouth, combined with the dryness of his throat, felt sticky and his tongue swollen. He sat up and gazed around the apartment. Drawings of childish hopes lined each wall, quality ranging from desperate scribbles to near perfect scaled replications. Flying machines, engines, motor vehicles, air balloons, and other miscellaneous daydreams plucked from a boy’s head and placed onto paper. Keith sat up, slipping from Lance’s grasp with every effort to not disturb him. He’d put him through enough. 

He wandered through the room like a wraith, silent and pale. His body jerked with each step while his knees tried their damnedest to buckle against the pain shooting up from his calves, but he managed to stay standing and force them to move. With no small effort he focused on putting one foot in front of the other until he got to one of the paper covered walls. So much time had gone into the drawings. He’d spend nights by the lamp light trying to copy something he saw on the street or an image he caught a glimpse of in a magazine. He dreamed of the sky, of distant cities, of adventures into the unknown. He dragged his finger over a drawing of London’s Big Ben, watching with cold eyes as a trail of black ash followed behind his nail with a thin strip of dim red light stretching out to either side. The paper darkened and curled as it burned away. He took another one, a German style zeppelin, using all five fingers he clawed across the paper as lines grew and devoured, leaving nothing but gray ash to fill his hands. 

“What are you doing?” Lance was sitting up on the bed, watching Keith with tired eyes. He woke the instant Keith pulled away from him, and there was an emptiness in his chest he couldn’t explain. There was nothing accusatory in his voice, but his lips were curved downward. He watched Keith destroy the images he had worked on. He knew it was a reaction to earlier, but it was almost like he felt each of those scorched lines on his own skin. He didn’t want to see Keith destroy the things that had once made him happy, but he also couldn’t bring himself to get out of the bed and grab him. It wouldn’t do either of them any good, so he decided to appeal to him the only way he knew how. “Stop that and come back to bed, please.”

“I don’t want to see them anymore.” Keith whispered, his voice broken and stuck in his throat as he sent another memory to crumble into ash. A cityscape drawing of Paris done from a sky-high perspective. As if he’d ever get to go there. 

Lance sighed and slid out of the bed, bare feet slapping against the floor until he came up to Keith and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He had hoped Keith would just listen, but it seemed like he needed to do more to convince him. “Doing this won’t make you feel better. Let’s take them down, but don’t burn them. What if you regret it later?”

“I regret doing them in the first place.” Keith slumped into Lance’s arms, head bowed. He lacked the energy to fight. “It’s all wishful thinking and childish dreams. I don’t get to have those. I don’t get to live normally. It wasn’t my purpose.” He hated the way he spoke. He hated the words coming out of his mouth, but he couldn’t fight the bitterness welling inside to the point it overflowed into self-pity. “What will make me feel better?” 

“So what if it’s wishful thinking? So what if you have dreams? Why aren’t you allowed to have them?” Lance sighed and nuzzled his hair a little. “You’re different. Sure. But I’m different too, and I have dreams. There are tons of things I wish for. Is it wrong to do that? Should I stop trying to make it in a world that hates me because of where I came from or how dark my skin is? If I shouldn’t, why should you stop dreaming and hoping and wishing just because you’re a little different?” 

Lance shook his head and kissed Keith’s forehead. “Coming back to bed with me will make you feel better. You need to rest so your body can heal the way it needs to, and I need to hold you and know you’re not going to leave me. Then you can take comfort in how much I love you.” He sighed again and urged Keith back to the bed. “Hunk and Pidge are still downstairs. They’ll be up soon, I’m sure. And you don’t want to worry them, right? So let me be the one worried, and let me be the one who protects you.”

“Your existence isn’t a manufactured lie. Everything you went through, everything you felt. Your family, your friends. They were people who truly loved you. I’m a fucking experiment. A specimen.” Keith turned his head over at Lance, acknowledging he heard Sam’s words. “I let it all happen. I always just let it happen. ‘Maybe they’ll forgive me. Maybe they’ll like me.’” Keith gave a disgusted grunt. “Yeah.” 

Keith let Lance lay him back. It was easier to succumb to his request than to argue or try standing up again. He turned his arm over and noticed the fine plant fibers holding his flesh together. Two tiny stitches. “Pidge huh?” He thumbed over the stich.

“Yes, Pidge saved your life.” Lance looked down at him and lifted his hand, brushing some of Keith’s hair back from his face. His own arm wound and stitches visible when he did that, but he paid it no mind. “Based on what I saw downstairs, you didn’t let it happen.” Lance shook his head and held Keith a little closer. “Your existence is nothing like that. If he said those things to you, he clearly wasn’t someone you should listen to. You have family. You have friends. You have people who truly love you. And if you don’t believe it…” He took one of Keith’s hands and placed it over his chest so he could feel his warmth. “Then at least know this beats for you.”

“Lance…” Keith choked back a lump in his throat. “I know, Pidge, Matt, and Shiro. I don’t doubt them. And you. You did a lot for me too. I know, I’m just… I’m… there’s a lot in my head right now.”

“Of course there’s a lot in your head. You just went through a traumatic experience. That’s why I’m going to ask you to trust me to take care of you as you heal.” Lance looked at him and sighed. “Let me help you.”

“You’ve helped me. I felt you. Your blood. It’s in me. Keeping me alive. Replacing,” Keith’s voice lowered into a hissing growl, which startled even him. “what I was dumb enough to let him take.”

“Keith, you didn’t let him take anything. He attacked and drugged you. That’s the opposite of let, you know.” Lance gently ran his fingers through his hair. “None of it was your fault.”

“And if I had listened to you?” Keith challenged.

“You did. You said you wouldn’t let him do anything if I wasn’t there. You didn’t let him.” Lance looked at him. “You did nothing wrong.”

Keith sighed and looked up at him then back down. “I’m still an idiot.” Keith reached for a glass of water on the nightstand and took the first drink. It hurt like a stinging salve, but the next few swallows went down easier and felt better against his throat. “Sam is one of the good guys. At least he’s supposed to be. I don’t understand why he’d do this.” Rationality started to peek through his mental disarray. 

“Sometimes it’s okay not understanding.” Lance sighed and bowed his head. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. If you’re an idiot, then I’m also an idiot for getting shot. We both trusted someone, and they broke that trust. That’s on them, not us. And maybe we won’t find out why he did what he did, but at least I can keep him from hurting you again.”

Keith didn’t retort with the biting comebacks sitting on the tip of his tongue. He always thought Sam was part of his family. Sam was one of them. Sam didn’t care about petty things like race or sexuality. Sam had been kind. Sam took Pidge, Matt, and himself to an airshow once. Sam gave Keith his love of flying. Sam gave him the room he lived in now, a job, and a place to call home. 

Keith curled in tighter. A place Sam could keep him close. A place he’d have easy access to. Keith’s fingers dug into his arms as he held on tighter. It was a lie. From the start. Keith was just a specimen. A creature who killed his friend. Infected his friend’s son and infected his daughter. “Maybe he really is the good guy. And I’m just… I’m… a monster.”

“Keith, you’re not a monster.” Lance knew this wasn’t going to go well. He could tell his attempts to soothe Keith weren’t working when the smaller man tensed and seemed to cringe at his words. He sighed and slowed his fingers in his hair. “And I’m sure something happened and he snapped. Pidge said he wasn’t always like that, and I believe her.” He looked at him, his lips twitching. He wanted to smile, but would it make this worse? If he couldn’t soothe Keith, what good was he?

Keith laid his head against Lance’s shoulder. “How is Pidge?”

“She’s upset, as you saw, but she was really trying to hide much of it. She seemed more concerned about you than anything else. But then again, she’s usually hiding it isn’t she? Hunk will try to comfort her because they’re engineer friends.”

“Lance…” Keith lifted his eyes to be level with the darker man so he could see all that was twisting and snarling inside his own body. The pain, anger, hate, self-loathing. Emotions which always lingered but Keith never allowed to the surface. He may have been a melancholy child at times but he prided himself on being able to keep going forward, but here he stood on the brink of something dark and terrible. He stood upon the precipice of the unknown. “Shiro.” His voice came so softly he wasn’t sure if Lance heard it. “Did Shiro know?”

“That he was going to do that to you? No. I heard shouting, and when I arrived, Sam had knocked Shiro out on the floor.” Lance didn’t want to admit it, but Shiro wasn’t the one at fault this time, even if he still blamed him for all the others. If Shiro had just said no, or stopped it before this, Keith would have listened, and that bitter seed planted itself in his stomach and grew, curling around his gut and squeezing. But he kept those emotions in. Right now, Keith needed him, even if he was probably making it worse.

“He didn’t?” Keith melted into Lance’s shoulder. “So he didn’t know. He doesn’t hate me that much.” He sighed and tightened himself around his lover. 

“I don’t think he hates you at all.” Lance shook his head. “I think he honestly thought he was helping you, which is why I don’t think Sam was always like that.” He continued to hold Keith, resting his cheek against the top of the smaller man’s head. Did Keith know how much it was taking him to admit all this?

“Thank you.” Keith curled in a little more until he wasn’t able to get any smaller. “Thank you for saving me. Thank you for staying here with me. Thank you for still being here. Thank you for not killing Sam, even though I know you wanted to.”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Keith.” Lance sighed and stared at the wall, though he kept his cheek against the top of that mop of black hair. 

“It was hard for you. So I will thank you for at least that.” Keith nuzzled his face into Lance’s neck. “I scared the crap out of you too. I’m going on and on about me, but you’re hurting.” An ivory finger touched the lion on Lance’s arm.

“I don’t matter right now. I want you to use your energy worrying about yourself and getting better. You just suffered physical, mental, and emotional trauma. You need to take care of yourself.” Lance closed his eyes.

“Taking care of you is part of taking care of me. I need you. Without you…” Keith shook his head. “I need you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, but I also don’t want you to worry about me when you’re in the state you’re in.” Lance held him closer. “Let me take care of you.”

Keith nodded his head sitting silent for a moment. “They can stay up. The drawings. They can stay.”

“I don’t mind taking them down for you, but I didn’t want you to regret burning them, that’s all.” Lance nuzzled a little.

“I know. They can stay for now. I just needed to talk it out a bit more.” Keith shifted his body so his back pressed against Lance’s chest in a slight sitting position as he laid between his legs, pulling the blanket up around them. 

“They really are just stupid drawings.” Keith pointed to one. “Like that one. I got it out of a magazine. Is that even what New York looks like?”

Lance looked over at the drawing Keith had indicated, and he smiled. “It is a little, but seeing it in person is always going to be different than drawings.” He wrapped his arms around Keith more and kissed the back of his head. “I’ll take you there. I’ll take you to New York, to Paris. To London, or Moscow, or anywhere you want to go. Everywhere you want to go.”

“What’s your favorite?” Keith curled his fingers into Lance’s, letting the simple ease of the conversation relax him. 

“Kyoto,” Lance whispered, “because I met you.”

“Somehow I knew you were going to say something like that.” Keith shook his head. “But seriously. Not counting here. Or Cuba. Which was your favorite?”

Lance chuckled and shook his head. “Hm. Well, probably Rome.” He paused as he thought about it. “There’s just so much to see there. So many old buildings around the area. The whole city is amazing. Everything is beautiful. The people were much nicer to me there than they are here. I mean they weren’t scared of how I look. Or at least not openly to my face anyway.”

“How could anyone be afraid of you?” Keith closed his eyes as he listened to Lance. “I like the way you look.” He tightened their hands, wrapping the dark arm around his pale midsection. “What else?”

“Well, maybe not afraid, but they hate me for sure.” Lance trailed off before he nuzzled his hair. “But the old cathedrals and everything in Europe are beautiful. Even if you aren’t into their religions, the glass work, the frescos, the architecture, it’s unreal. Walking around Rome felt like being thrown back in time.”

“Are they big?” Keith’s voice started to drift, his head lulled to rest against Lance’s chin.

“Incredibly big.” Lance tried to speak so that his movements wouldn’t disturb Keith.

“Have you been in The Coliseum?” The smaller frame shifted a little more, his shoulder nudging Lance.

At the doorway Pidge leaned against the frame, smiling as she watched her friends curl in, but she’d wait right where she stood until Lance gave her the okay to come in. The moment seemed too precious to interrupt.

“I have. It’s really cool.” Lance looked over at Pidge as he held Keith closer, his hands moving a little on the smaller man’s stomach. He nodded an okay before he pressed a kiss to the top of Keith’s head. “I’ll take you there, okay?”

Hunk stood behind Pidge, looking over her head and watching the two of them. He shifted a little, carrying a tray of food, and he was clearly did his best to be quiet.

“Hmmhmm.” Keith murmured something before his nose gave a little wiggle. “Hunk and Pidge are waiting, aren’t they?” He asked without opening his eyes.

“They are.” Lance whispered before looking at them. “You two can come in you know.”

Hunk looked at them and nodded, but he didn’t want to bowl Pidge over, so he grinned a bit and waited patiently.

Pidge walked into the room, pulling a folding table out from under her arm. She set it up at the bed side motioning for Hunk to set everything down. “We didn’t want to bug you guys, but after I told Hunk what happened, he was insistent that we bring you guys some iron rich food.”

Keith blinked his eyes open but didn’t move much from his place by Lance. The man was warm, and his body heat against his back was the most comforting sensation he’d ever felt. 

“And there’s a lot of good stuff in there.” Hunk was trying to whisper as he set the food down, but he was failing if only because he never seemed to master the art of whispering. “Shay also sent me with some medical supplies in case you needed them, but it looks like you don’t, so I’ll bring them back in the morning.”

“Thank you.” Lance nodded and helped Keith sit up, though he remained against his back with his arms still around him. “You should eat a little.”

“You too.” Keith whispered with the faintest of nuzzles before he used his own strength to sit up a little straighter. He saw Pidge staring at him intently and he found he couldn’t meet her eyes. “Pidge I-mph!” Her hand came up to cover Keith’s mouth. “Mphg?” His eyes wide.

“One. You don’t have anything to apologize for. Two, you shouldn’t worry about anyone but yourself. Three you didn’t do anything wrong. And fou,r I don’t know what happened, but no he wasn’t always like that. There’s something way more messed up going on here.” Pidge smiled, trying to hide the small pearl sized tears in the corner of her eyes. 

“So I’m going to remove my hand and you’re not allowed to say anything more about any of those topics. If it has anything to do with you blaming yourself. Ready?”

Keith nodded his head in the affirmative and her hand dropped. “Pidge…?”

“Yeah?” 

“Your hand tastes awful.” 

“I was putting a barometer inside one of the garden guards.” Pidge smirked sitting back.

“Yeah. Tastes like success.” Keith’s strength ebbed and he slumped back into Lance.

Lance was about to interject, but he thought better of it and simply sat there, arms loose around Keith since he was moving more between sitting up on his own and leaning against him. It was easier to keep from restricting the other man’s movement. The seed in his stomach seemed to grow and coil, and he didn’t want that to change his expression, so he bowed his head and closed his eyes. He wouldn’t allow it to affect him more than it had. 

Hunk reached over and ruffled Lance’s hair. He didn’t have to ask if his friend was okay because he knew he wasn’t. But he also knew he wouldn’t say anything, either. So a quick affirmation was all he could give him.

Keith watched Hunk for a moment. “You came here in the dead of night to make us dinner?”

“Well no. I’ve been here most of the day.” Hunk pulled his hand back from Lance’s head and ruffled Keith’s hair too. “I just ran out to make something good for you both, since it sounded like you need it, and I came back.”

Lance glanced up at his friend, though his head remained bowed. “Thank you, Hunk.”

“Hunk… thank you. For everything you’ve done. You and Lance are… I don’t know.” Keith looked to Lance for clarification. “Thank you.”

Lance dropped his gaze again and shrugged.

“Ah well don’t worry about it. Just eat and get better so Lance can stop worrying so much hm?” Hunk ruffled Keith’s hair again before he nudged Pidge. “You too.”

“I will.” Keith didn’t drop his eyes from Lance. He had every reason be upset, but something about the way Lance held himself didn’t sit well. 

“I need your help.” Keith blushed as darkly as his blood loss would allow. “The chopsticks hurt to use.”

“Okay.” Lance slid from behind Keith and sat next to him so he could help him eat. Sure it was embarrassing to do something like this, but Keith had asked, so he would do it, especially if it meant that Keith would rely on him. And Lance was sure Keith was more embarrassed than he was, but Keith needed the help, and Lance needed to help him. Even something as simple as this was enough to ease some of Lance’s fears.

Hunk grinned and went into the kitchen to get them all some water. “Hopefully you like it.”

“Isshgood!” Keith mumbled around the chopsticks, his embarrassment forgotten with the taste of Hunk’s cooking.

“Good!” Hunk laughed and came back, setting the glasses down. “The three of you had a long day, so make sure you sleep in as much as you need to okay? Shay and I will bring you breakfast in the morning, so don’t worry about that.”

“You’re leaving?” Pidge pouted. She had spent the effort on getting to know another fleshy friend. “This late? You should stay.”

“I agree with Pidge.” Keith took another offered bite, then whispered to Lance. “And you should eat too.”

“No, but I’m going to sleep by the door so no one can open it.” Hunk grinned a bit. “I’m a pretty big guy. It’d be hard to push me out of the way.”

Lance shook his head. “When you’re done, I’ll eat.” He looked at Keith and tried to smile, his lips twitching just slightly. 

“Promise? You used a lot of energy.” Keith raised his hand to Lance’s jaw. “I took a lot out of you.” Maybe it was Keith’s overactive imagination, but Lance seemed a pale. The other two in the room became figments as all his attention focused on one important person.

“Yes I promise.” Lance’s eyes closed at the touch, and he nuzzled those fingers a little, but he shook his head slightly when he opened them again. “You were way worse off, so you need to eat. Right now, you’re the one you should worry about more than me, okay? I’m fine.”

“That’s impossible.” Keith winced as he moved his hand just right, he lowered his hand back to his lap. 

Hunk glanced at Pidge before he shrugged and walked to the door, sitting down on the floor and resting his back against it.

“You get used to it.” Pidge returned Hunks shrug. “I don’t hate it. I’m glad they’re happy.”

Hunk chuckled. “Well it’s way better than it was before, at least. Both of them moping around hm?” He nodded towards Lance and Keith, chuckling again with the way they were both stupidly cute as Lance helped Keith eat, but also stupid because they seemed to be half arguing at the same time.

Lance shook his head and fed him a little more food. “No, Keith please. I need you to focus on you for my sake. If you don’t heal, what am I supposed to do?”

Keith shook his head with the last bite, letting Lance know he was done. He shifted his body to lean more against his chest, and allowed Lance the needed room to eat. “It will make me feel better if I can see you taking care of yourself too, Please?”

Lance nodded and moved so he could put his arms around Keith and also eat without making a mess of both of them.

“They tend to flip back and forth like little stupid neutrons. Neither one can be positive at the same time. It’s like against nature.” Pidge chuckled, but she had to admit seeing the two of them broke her heart. She missed their lively banter and Keith’s angry curses. In good time. She supposed. 

“Do you think, now would be a good time to answer any questions you have Lance?” Pidge sat on the coffee table. “Hunk here is aware of everything. I filled him in showed him a magic trick or two. He’s not sold on the science of it, but hey,” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “Neither am I.” 

Hunk closed his eyes as he rested against the door. “That’s cause it doesn’t seem like science, at least not yet. Give me some time.”

“I don’t know.” Lance admitted as he finished eating whatever was left of the food, his free hand resting on Keith’s stomach, trying to hold him closer. Anything to make Keith feel better, even if he didn’t seem to be doing a good job. But Lance would just do what Keith needed him to do. Otherwise the other man would never recover properly. “I’m not sure I can handle it right now.”

“It can wait until tomorrow Pidge. I should get some sleep otherwise the idiot won’t sleep either.” Keith mumbled under his breath. “After breakfast will be fine. After I eat, and after he eats.” Keith curled his legs up contorted himself as close as possible around Lance, his head cuddling in under his chin, his arms around his waist. Lance wouldn’t be able to breathe without alerting Keith.

Lance blinked and looked at the way Keith had curled himself around him, making it impossible for him to get up and handle anything. He looked helplessly at Hunk, who had almost completely dozed off, but the larger man stood, and shuffled about, taking the tray to the sink, grabbing some extra blankets for Pidge and himself. He handed one to her and took the other with him back to the door, sitting down, tilting his head back, and pretty much passing out.

“Looks like we really all do need some rest.” Lance shook his head and curled over Keith.

“He paced himself to death downstairs freaking out about you two.” Pidge yawned as she laid back on the couch. “You know nothing is fine right now, we’re all just hanging on, and that atmosphere can be taxing on an emotional transformer like that. He can take a lot it and flip it around, but it can explode pretty easily. I don’t get people like that, but I like being around him. Hunk is a good guy. You coulda done way worse for friends.”

“Thanks, I guess. He’d be embarrassed if he heard you praising him.” Lance shook his head and looked at Keith before he tried to shift so they could both lay more comfortably. He said nothing, but he could see the sheen of tears on Keith’s cheeks. 

Without a word the smaller man wrapped himself tighter into Lance’s long arms, his face finding a reprieve between his shoulder and neck. He didn’t have to speak. There would be no need to explain himself. Lance understood. He knew the fragility of even the strongest heart. He knew the toll it took when a heart shattered but wanted nothing more than to keep beating, to keep being what it used to be. He knew all this because he knew Keith, and the young Korean man understood at least that much of Lance. 

Lance curled his arms around Keith and rested one hand on the back of his head, his fingers sliding into his hair and gently stroking it in an attempt to soothe him. The other just held him as closely as he could. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the top of his head. He knew Keith was suffering. He knew Keith needed him. So he would be the rock that Keith could lean upon.

“Thank you.” Keith whispered, his words little more than a breath as his hand clutched Lance’s shirt, and his eyes closed, squeezing more tears out then he’d care to pay attention to, but something happened, something unexpected. The smallest smile turned up Keith’s lips, the corner of his mouth catching a tear as it moved into its path. 

“It’s the same.” He said, flattening his hand out just above and over the center of his chest. Keith closed his eyes counting under his breath. “The beat. It’s the same.” He pulled Lance’s hand to his own chest, right above his heart.

“That’s because I love you more than anything.” Lance whispered and finally smiled at him, letting him hold his hand against his chest like that. “Because you are my life, and so my heart beats with yours.” He kept his voice quiet, since he knew if Pidge or Hunk woke and heard it, they’d both be embarrassed, but his cheeks were red, and he kept smiling even if they were both having a difficult time.

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Keith shook his head, his tears weren’t stopping but at least for right now he felt like they could all survive this. “But I hope it does.”


	15. Akai Odamaki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R for suggestive language~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Red Columbine** _Akai odamaki 赤いオダマキ_ \- Worried, trembling 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)

Keith laid awake listening to the commotion downstairs. He knew Shiro came over asking after him, and Pidge and Hunk were derailing the bigger man. Keith couldn’t help but smile at the mental image of tiny Pidge hooking both of her arms around one of Shiro’s. And Shiro, being the gentle giant he is, backing down as if held by ten men.

He couldn’t be mad at Shiro. Keith adored him and never blamed him for what happened in the lab. Lance though, he had a different take on the events and another person he wanted to vent his anger on.

With a content sigh, Keith kept his head against Lance’s thigh, focusing on the hand in his hair and the gentle strokes over his ear. “If we’re going to have a real talk, he needs to be part of it.”

“I know.” Lance sighed, running his fingers through Keith’s hair, occasionally stopping long enough to trace his ear. “Just give me a few more minutes to convince myself not to hit him.” He knew he shouldn’t blame Shiro. Keith didn’t, but Lance wasn’t as benevolent as his lover. So if he could have a little more time to cool down, that would be better for everyone. 

“I feel better. Well, better than…” Keith sat up and looked Lance in the face. If he continued to pamper him like a spoiled cat, he’d fall asleep and nothing would get resolved. He understood Lance’s fear. Until his blood levels reached a normal state, Keith had to maintain a degree of calm. If he got too stressed or too excited, cardiac arrest was possible. Even if Pidge said the outcome was unlikely.

“Let him up. He’s probably worried out of his mind.”

“Let him be worried, then.” The words were a little more snappish than Lance meant them to sound. He remained seated on the bed for another moment as he took a few deep breaths. It had only been a few days since Lance interrupted that sick experiment, and Keith was totally okay? He grimaced and looked down at the stitches in his own arm. The wound had sealed, but the little threads Pidge sewed into his skin hadn’t completely fallen out. He didn’t give Keith as much blood as Keith lost, and he wasn’t wounded in four places, but he also wasn’t really okay. Keith was, apparently, and Lance didn’t know if he should be relieved or annoyed that Keith was going to push himself. Either way, this wasn’t an argument he would win, so he scowled as he got off the bed and went to the door. 

“You can send him up,” he called down, half-growling out the words.

Keith leaned against the head board and closed his eyes, listening to the heavy steps up the stairs. He sat straighter when he saw the towering figure of Shiro fill the door way.

Keith must have still looked like shit. The expression Shiro wore was more suited for a funeral than a reunion. He didn’t think he looked that bad. Dark circles under his eyes, bandages around his limbs notwithstanding.

“Keith!” Shiro started forward.

Lance took a step to the side and stood directly in front of Shiro, shaking his head and scowling at the larger man. Sure, Shiro could knock him over in a second, but Lance knew he wouldn’t dare, not with the guilt that seemed to be written all over his face. 

“Lance,” Shiro’s brow furrowed. “Do we have to do this now? I just want to speak to him.”

“Are you unable to speak to him from there?” Lance scowled up at him. “He might be okay with you, but I’m not, and you can’t expect me to be. Not yet. Not when he almost died because you were fine with shit you shouldn’t have been fine with.”

“Are you really going to make yell from here?” Shiro arched a scarred brow toward Lance before he looked past the man and to Keith who hadn’t moved. His eyes still closed. The expression akin to a passive mother silently telling a child ‘fight your own battles.’

“He can hear you if you don’t shout. It’s not like it’s far.” Lance crossed his arms and kept his gaze locked on Shiro. “Or are you going to make me hit you in front of him? He doesn’t want me to do that, so I’m doing my best not to, which is why I don’t want you to move any closer to him just yet. He might be okay with everything, but I’m sure as hell not.” His eyes narrowed and he held his ground. “So talk to him from there, and if I’m more comfortable with you being here by the end of it, I’ll let you move closer.” 

With a sigh of resignation Shiro shook his head, his focus staying on the boy curled up with heavy blankets, his hair bound back in a mess of a bun, and while paler than Shiro would have liked, a pinking to Keith’s flesh showed healthy plumpness in his cheeks. He was being well taken care of. He could tell that much from here. “Thank you.” Shiro turned his head down to meet Lance’s steely glare. “You’ve taken really good care of him. Thank you.”

Lance bit back the barbed comment that was he was poised to release, and he simply snorted. “I don’t want you to thank me. I want you to apologize.” He took a step back from Shiro, but his arms were still crossed, and his eyes were still locked on him. “I want you to understand that I don’t hate you. Keith likes you too much for me to hate you, but I’m just very angry. I know you don’t like me, and you don’t trust me. You think I’m going to betray him. You think I’m going to rat you all out. But I’m not the one who hurt him.” He uncrossed his arms and showed Shiro his wound and the stitching. “I gave my blood to him when it was taken from him. If you still can’t trust me after that, then I don’t think I’m ever going to be anything other than angry with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Shiro whispered. “I’ll say it to you first, and Keith won’t forgive me unless I do.” Shiro bowed deeply from the waist, his arms at his side, facing the ground. “I knew from the second I saw you in the shop with your arm around him that you were the one he needed. I never hated you. I hated myself for bringing Keith down to a level that made him feel like he was less than who he was meant to be. For making him feel like he could never be happy. You changed all that for him, Lance. You protected him and supported him where I couldn’t do either.” Shiro stood up then and reached his hand out to the young man. “For all of that and everything you’ve done. I thank you.”

Lance sighed a little and shook his head before he grabbed Shiro’s hand. “That’s not what I meant, and none of that really excuses you for not trusting me, or thinking those bad things about me, but I will accept your apology.” He shook it once before he stepped away from him and sat on the bed with Keith. He gently rested his hand on one of Keith’s and shrugged. “You can come closer, I guess. I won’t hit you unless you try something.”

Shiro stepped inside the small room, looking around the place and smiled. “You’ve added more pictures I see. I never knew where you found the time.”

“The shop isn’t that busy.” Keith squeezed Lance’s hand as he opened his eyes and looked up at the heroic stature of his childhood crush. There would be no giddy rush of his heart. There would be no sudden flush in his cheeks. There would be no blind agreement or dumb nods of his head. Keith would not be surprised by any of it. Those reactions belonged to the man at his side. What he did feel was an over whelming sense of adoration. He loved Shiro as any man could love their family. He’d fight and die for Shiro at the word or command, but Keith realized those feelings were far removed from what he now knew love was. 

Shiro stepped forward with caution. “I won’t make excuses. How much I knew and didn’t know doesn’t matter here or now. Just believe me when I say I never wanted this for you. I never wanted to see you hurt by any of Sam was doing. I should have confronted him when he started to shut me out. He only wanted to hear about my dreams and cared about little else.”

“Your dreams?” Keith nodded his head then blinked realizing Lance wouldn’t understand. “Shiro is the black lion. He and I,” The dark-haired man paused, biting his lip as he fought to find the words needed to express their bond without triggering Lance’s anger. “He and I can sometimes share the same dreamscape. I can see into his head, he can see in mine, but only if both sides permit it.” He added the rule quickly as if in apology such a thing existed. “And that’s rare.”

Lance remained silent during the explanation. He squeezed Keith’s hand to let him know he was listening, but he did his best to keep his expression neutral. “I see.” His voice was quiet. He didn’t like what he was hearing, of course, but he wasn’t going to make an issue of it. Keith didn’t need that right now. He needed support, so Lance would support him.

“There’s always a woman,” Shiro explained for Lance’s benefit. “All night, in the dark she calls out to me. I don’t know the language she’s speaking, but I can hear her voice, and I know she’s calling out to me. Even when I’m awake I can still hear her voice. She always feels close and she gets so loud that…” Shiro’s clenched fists started to shake.

“He calls me over. If I’m near him, the voices quiet down, and he can rest.” Keith added with a simple gesture of his hand. He’d explained at least this much to Lance in the past. 

“Where is Sam right now?” Keith lifted his head, his brows furrowed up. The expression was one of concern and sadness but no anger, which startled Shiro. Keith knew he offered him a ‘pick your poison’ option but they were going to talk about one topic or the other.

“He’s with Matt at a hold out. They think it might be mercury poisoning.” 

Lance’s lip curled at the mention of Sam, but he closed his eyes and forced himself to think about something calming. A beach or something. Waves. Gently rolling back and forth. His tense muscles relaxed a bit, and he slowly opened his eyes once more. “See, I told you there had to be an explanation,” he whispered. He didn’t really think any of that day’s events were excusable, but for Keith’s sake, and for Pidge’s sake, he would pretend to believe it. 

“Will he be okay?” Keith leaned his shoulder into Lance, his eyes searching Shiro’s face for hints he was holding back.

“I don’t know.” Shiro whispered back. “But try not to worry about it too much right now. You have enough on your plate. Just know that he’s being looked over and we’re doing everything we can to figure out what happened.”

“He’d been at the clock tower and in his lab more than he’s been home lately. Maybe if we start there.” Pidge entered the room with Hunk in tow. 

Hunk was carrying a tray of food, and he grinned as he put it on the table. “Only after everyone eats.” He looked at Shiro, then he looked at Keith and Lance, his grin faltering a bit before his expression brightened. “It’s good. I promise.” He laughed slightly. Anything to clear the air.

Lance nodded a little. “Well, you guys can start there. As much as Keith probably wants to go, I don’t think it’s a good idea for that to happen today. At least not while he’s so pale.” He looked at Keith and lifted his free hand to touch his cheek. “Don’t argue with me on this one okay? Let the three of them look?”

Keith’s protest died with the touch, the breath he would’ve used to speak it came out in a soft sigh of acceptance to Lance’s request. He started to lean into him, when his eyes snapped open and the wide indigo orbs darted over to Hunk. “You. Your leg. Let me see it.”

Hunk stopped grinning. “In front of everyone?” He glanced at Pidge, who nodded and shooed him towards Keith. He walked to the bed and sat with a slight oof, careful of Lance and Keith, and he rolled his pants to expose the yellow lion that had curled itself around his shin and calf. “Pidge explained it to me already, but yeah…”

Lance blinked and looked between Hunk and Keith. “When?”

“Oh the other morning. After we all slept in here.” Hunk shrugged and looked at Keith. “You could tell?”

“Don’t look at me. I don’t control it.” Keith waved his hand dismissively when Lance and Shiro directed their attention to him.

“As far as we know. Any way.” Pidge sat down on the night stand beside the head of the bed, her slight weight making the flimsy wood creek. “It appears to work with some way you view the participant. Mind.” She pointed to herself. “Soul.” She pointed to Shiro. “Body.” An unwavering eye landed on Lance, and Keith felt his cheeks flare to have the nature of their relationship so blatantly and coldly categorized. “Heart.” She settled on Hunk. 

“Something he did, or something you witnessed called out to you or affected you so the yellow lion imparted on Hunk. It’s not hard to see why. He’s kind, good natured, and went above and beyond for the kids in the slum, and Keith, you’ve always had a soft spot for children.”

“And he dropped everything to help.” Lance whispered, bowing his head as though it would shield him from any criticism from the others when it came to his own role.

Hunk laughed a bit and rolled his pant leg back down. He ruffled Lance’s hair, then Keith’s before he stood once more. “Hey man. I just did what was right.”

“And then Keith who appears to be the catalyst for it all. Patient zero, if you will.” Pidge continued. “But my father didn’t believe it. His notes suggest something else. Fire if you think of it is the core, in an Eastern sense, the chi or will for all life. A blinding force which creates, destroys, and is the essential part for all living things. It moves the earth and forms the land, creates the water basins, fills the sky, and fertilizes the land. My father believed Keith to be more of dowsing rod. A conduit.”

While Pidge spoke, Hunk walked back to the table and started setting up some plates from the tray of food. He carried two to the bed and handed them to Lance, who pouted a little when he had to let go of Keith, but he took the plates. Then he went back and set one of up for Shiro, grinning up at him as he held it out. His grin widened when Shiro took the plate and nodded, though it was clear this kind of breakfast wasn’t what he was used to, but breakfast comfort food was the best kind of breakfast, and Shiro seemed to need it. “It’s good. Keith really likes my food. You better like it too,” he whispered, not wanting to interrupt Pidge.

Lance handed one of the plates to Keith. Of course Hunk was continuing to load them up with extra proteins. That was what Hunk did. He took care of everyone. He looked at Pidge and nodded. “That makes sense.” 

“Thank you, Hunk was it?” Shiro smiled warmly at the bigger set man. “You were with Lance the night of the show, right.”

Keith blushed a little darker. The night Lance fell for the koto playing maiko. It seemed like a song in a dream by now. His fingers folded into Lance’s. Someday he’d play it for him again.

“Yup. I mean it’s kind of hard to forget the only two dark skinned guys in the whole room, right?” Hunk laughed and handed some food to Pidge, even though the two of them had already ate. She was like a bottomless pit, though, and she happily devoured what he gave her.

Lance looked at Keith and held his hand. “Do you need help?”

“Hmm?” Keith blinked, the fog in eyes clearing away, unaware he’d been staring at his lover. “Ah, no. I’m fine.” He started eating, the tiny blush now showing on the pale tips of his ears, standing out from his hair. 

Lance seemed satisfied with the answer, and he let go of his hand so they both could eat. He occasionally glanced up at the others. Hunk was making small talk with Shiro, mostly about the kind of foods he thought Shiro might like beyond his usual Japanese cuisine. Pidge was happily devouring another plateful of food, though she had left enough for Keith and Lance if they wanted more. 

“All right,” Pidge started abruptly while wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. “We’re all gathered here, I don’t think it’s wise to waste an opportunity like this. So any burning questions either of you have?” She directed her glances at both Hunk and Lance. 

“What’s the real reason Sam almost killed Keith? No one knows but him, right? So when you three go find him, I want answers.” Lance muttered. He didn’t care about himself, or the whole deal with the lions, or the connections. He just wanted to know why Keith almost died in his arms. 

Hunk blinked. “Wouldn’t a better question be how you healed him and were able to give him your blood through the bath water?” He arched a brow. “I mean what does that mean? Pidge said Keith can manipulate fire, and she can manipulate plants and stuff, but what about you? What about me? What about Shiro?”

Pidge kept her startled expression on Lance for a few seconds longer than the flow of conversation mandated. She opened her mouth to speak until Keith did it for her, his voice soft. When Keith wanted to be heard the most was when he spoke the softest. It manipulated those around into giving him their undivided attention and strain to hear every word.

“Tsuchi, mizu, hi, kaze, sora.” Keith looked at each person gathered in turn. “Earth. Water. Fire. Wind. Void. It’s a common concept in Eastern religions and aspects in learning the sword. Pidge explained before what some if it means. I can touch and manipulate fire, but I can’t control it on a grander scale than lighting a candle or burning paper.”

“Because you won’t let yourself.” Pidge countered.

“It’s all I need.” 

“Keith’s abilities have always been twisted with in something else.” Pidge took over again, once she picked up on the strain in Keith’s voice. “We’ve studied his blood and there’s a split on the molecular level. My father believed Keith could possibly house the alchemic property of both fire and void.” She finished.

“Which is why him and I are connected the way we are.” Shiro stared into Lance’s face. Not in challenge, but to enforce the concept of how things designed themselves. “Sora is believed to be the peak of the elements. Mastering ones’ body and soul and the ability to be attuned with the energy of all things, everywhere, the flow of the universe. To sense what can’t be seen. To know what shouldn’t be known and to be beyond the physical.” Shiro leaned his head back against the wall as he bent his leg up to rest his arm across a knee. “Keith has an affinity toward both forces but relies heavily on fire but the dual nature causes instability.”

“Which is why he refrains from using it.” Pidge nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah but what can he do? Like what kinda super powers and stuff can you do with the Void?” Hunk asked sitting up in his chair like an excited child.

“Dunno. Mundane things really. Dream walk I guess. I’ve done that a few times. I just feel things.” Shiro shrugged. 

Keith curled his arm around Lance’s, his fingers gently touching upon the healing stitch. “Adaptation. Control. Water, blood, healing. Protection. For Body.”

“That’s so cool.” Hunk practically had stars in his eyes as he nodded excitedly. “It’s like you all are super heroes or something!” His grin widened.

“You’re yellow now, Hunk, so you have it too.” Pidge grinned at him. His excitement and clear interest in the subject was much easier to work with than Lance’s seeming indifference. She understood. Lance had some trauma he clearly hadn’t worked out yet, as evidenced by the way he curled over Keith when Shiro had looked at him. But she shrugged it off and focused on the stuff easier to talk about. Anything to keep Lance’s scrutiny off her dad. Now was not the time for it. “I’m not exactly sure how it manifests in you, but Earth is the most steady. The rock.”

“Oh so like maybe I can make the ground shake and stuff? Oh! Could I make pillars of rocks? Or maybe I could make people stick to the ground. That’d be so cool!” Hunk’s eyes brightened.

Pidge couldn’t hold back the laugh. “Maybe.”

Although he heard Keith’s earlier words, and he felt his touch, Lance turned his head away from the others and stared at the wall during their lighthearted conversation. He knew he was the one being unreasonable, but the whole thing was making him angry. Angrier than he really had any right to be. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He focused on breathing. This wasn’t anyone else’s fault. He shouldn’t be like this.

Keith blocked out the noise and focused on one point. He could feel Lance’s heat, his anger roiling inside of him as assuredly as if it were his own. His fingers danced up the arm curled over him and touched upon the base of Lance’s tattoo. Stroking over the back of the lion like quelling an untamed cat ready to pounce. “They can’t answer your question now. They are making do.” He whispered while turning his head into Lance’s shoulder, making sure the others couldn’t hear him. 

“I know. I don’t expect an answer now.” Lance whispered, allowing himself to absorb some of Keith’s heat, trying to use it to calm himself. The gentle touch of his lion helped, as each stroke of Keith’s fingers seemed to melt the ice that felt like it was forming there. “I just…” 

Hunk laughed at something Pidge had said, genuinely, or as an attempt to lighten the atmosphere of the room. Whatever it was, it worked enough to make Lance look away from the wall and back at the others again, though he leaned into Keith a little. He could mentally berate himself later. 

Keith kept moving his fingers over the back of the Lion. The touch benefiting not only Lance, but it also sent a soothing tingle down his own back around the blue cord wrapping about his lion. “I gave you a scare. Myself too. I understand how you feel.”

“It wasn’t just you two, ya know. You guys are heart eyes and sweet words now but the rest of us had to witness it all too.” Pidge tried to keep the snap out her voice. “And neither of you even know what Shi-“

“Pidge.” Shiro’s voice cut the smallest of them off. “It’s okay. There’s a time and a place for this and now isn’t it. Lance wants answers. We all do. But it’s not something that will just be handed over.”

Despite the scolding Keith jumped up from the bed his eyes wide. “Hand! A hand! It reached out!”

Lance grabbed Keith and pulled him back down to the bed. “Don’t jump up like that,” he murmured and looked at Keith. It was the second time he mentioned a hand, but he was also completely out of it when Lance found him. He wanted to investigate, but he also didn’t want to excite or upset the others any more than he already had.

“That must have been my hand when I got the mask off you,” he said, making sure his voice was stern enough that there was no question. “You were so drugged you couldn’t see much of anything, so your mind must have been playing tricks on you.” He looked at Keith, his brows furrowed. Would Keith understand? Would he know not to push it? Well he could at least change the subject. 

He turned to the others and shook his head. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m making light of your suffering. I’m not. I don’t mean to. I’m angry. I’m scared. I’m feeling things I never thought I would feel, and I’m not coping properly.” 

Hunk shook his head and rested a gentle hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “I think it was a little too soon for us to try to hash this out. The emotions are too fresh.” He smiled a little. “So why don’t we split up for today. I’ll go to Shay’s and check on the kids. Maybe Pidge and Shiro should go check on her dad hm? And Lance and Keith can recover just a little more. Then tomorrow we can talk with cooler heads?”

Keith sat down in the bed with a sudden “Ouf” of impact. Instant blazing anger focused on Lance and stayed honed in on until everyone left the room with Pidge and Shiro throwing known winces in Lance’s direction. 

When the door closed Keith’s fist shook, trying to contain the anger steeping into his voice. “Don’t. Do. That. Again. I know what I saw.”

“I know.” Lance looked at him, and if he was fazed by Keith’s anger, he didn’t let it show. “I know what you said and what you saw, and I want to go down there without all them. Because you know as well as I do if all five of us go down there to find what you saw, it’s going to be a lot messier than if it’s the two of us.” He sighed. “So be pissed at me for cutting you off like that, but at least understand why I did.”

“Then say that out right instead of making me look crazy!” Keith snarled, strands of his hair doing little to hide his fury, but it was obvious he was trying to reign his temper in.

“I’m sorry.” Lance lifted his hand and pushed Keith’s untamed hair out of his face, tucking the strands behind his ear. “It wasn’t that I wanted you to look crazy, it was that I didn’t want any of them to question it. I’m messing up a lot today, and I’m sorry.” He rested his forehead against Keith’s. “I know it’s not a good reason, and I know I deserve your anger. So be angry. Hit me if you need to, just avoid my face?” He tried to smile, but his lips barely twitched.

Keith trembled and clenched his fist until his knuckles went white. Lance thought he could talk his way out of this one, Keith didn’t let anyone treat him the way Lance had. Then the touch came to his ear and left him docile. Even if the gentle self-deprecation words added to fuel Keith’s anger, Lance’s fingers kept the fire low. 

“I wouldn’t hit you.” Came a pouty voice. “I’m not like that. Do you think I’m capable of something like that?” Keith turned his head up, clearly upset but the reason had changed.

“No, I don’t, but if you wanted to, I would accept it because your anger is my fault.” Lance gently slid his fingers over Keith’s cheek. “I could have said it better. I just didn’t think it would be a good idea to agree that something is down there while Pidge is here. She wouldn’t be able to help herself, and she’s already upset about her dad.” He closed his eyes, keeping his forehead against Keith’s. So let’s go down there together? We can confirm what you saw and soften the blow for the rest of them?”

Every gentle stroke, every whispered word and tender syllable melted Keith’s anger until he was leaning toward Lance’s hand. He loved and hated this subtle manipulation. “You’ll let me go down there with you?”

“I absolutely wouldn’t do it without you. How else would we know what you saw if you’re not there to confirm it?” Lance knew he was using his affection to soothe Keith’s anger, and at any other time, he wouldn’t even dare to do it, but they both needed to prepare themselves for whatever they saw down there. “Is that okay with you? That I accompany you?”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way, and I’m not stupid enough to think I can make it down there, rummage around, and make it out without a problem.” Keith sighed and curled into Lance’s arm nuzzling from his palm to his wrist, up his arm and into to his shoulder.

“You’d worry yourself sick up here, and how could I do that to you?” 

“You could to get me back for being a jerk.” Lance relaxed and wrapped himself around Keith for a moment. “But you’re a good person, and you love me, so you won’t. My guilt is punishment enough.” He pressed his lips to the top of his head and closed his eyes. “Will you be okay seeing what’s down there? Should I clear the equipment first?”

“I’m okay. It will be okay.” Keith swallowed and kissed Lance’s shoulder, snuggling into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry I got so mad.” He whispered. “You just want to protect me.”

“I’m sorry I made you mad. You don’t need me to speak for you. I just didn’t want it to escalate with them here, and I overstepped.” Lance’s breathing hitched at the nuzzle to his neck. “When do you want to go?”

“Once they leave. I can still tell they’re mulling around downstairs.” Keith pulled away, sitting back in is heels. He looked like a fallen cherub. His white billowed shirt sat unlaced against his chest, pink pert nipples standing against his cream supple flesh. The flush was looking healthy and his skin appeared warm and inviting. “We can wait.”

“Are you trying to tempt me?” Lance leaned forward and slid a finger down the pale column of Keith’s neck, into the top of his shirt, pulling it open just a little more so he could get a good look at that teasing peak. “I don’t think it’d be good if we overwork ourselves, do you?”

“You’re easily tempted.” Keith closed his eyes against the excited quivers Lance’s touch brought on. “Not to say I’m a pillar of abstaining.” He smirked as Lance pulled his shirt open even as he tried to talk himself down. “I’m not trying to do anything in particular.” 

“Only by you. No one else tempts me, and I don’t think I believe you’re not trying to seduce me.” Lance leaned in and placed a feather-light kiss at the crook of Keith’s neck, nuzzling a little. “But for your sake, I’ll control myself.” He moved and closed Keith’s shirt up. “At least for now.”

“I-“ Keith blinked and cocked his head to the side as Lance dressed him. “That’s unexpected.”

“Believe me. There’s nothing I want more than to toss you down and remind you that you’re mine,” Lance whispered against his jaw as he dragged his lips along the skin. “But I don’t think either of us are in the condition to do that and still have energy after to go downstairs.” He kissed Keith’s lips and smiled against them. “And we should make sure we solve the little mystery of that hand, right?”

“Not that, idiot.” Keith smiled with a roll of his eyes, though not opposed to the ideas Lance pitched. In fact, he had no doubt about the benefits of sex as a stress relief, but he’d been referring to what he saw out the window. “Shiro and Pidge are actually going off together.” Keith pointed down the street. “Pidge leaving the shop this many times in one week is a record.” 

“Oh.” Lance pouted, but he turned and looked out the window. “Well, she’s worried about Sam. That’s normal. And I don’t think Shiro wants to be around me more than he has to, and he knows I’m not leaving your side, so he’s trying to play it safe.” He shrugged and looked at Keith again. “Looks like Hunk left before them, so we should be safe to go down there hm?”

“Yeah.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s cheek, his fingers tracing where his lips were before. “But I will hold you to your offer.” He grinned as he stood up talking slow and steady steps to the door where he waited for Lance.

“I will happily let you hold me to it.” Lance pulled a shirt on and scrambled to catch up to him. “You can walk okay, obviously, but do you need help going down the stairs?” He rested a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Lance.” Keith gave the taller man a disgruntled growl but let him step in front of him while he placed a balancing hand against his back. He knew he should be grateful Lance was letting him get away with this much versus laying around in his apartment. He wasn’t used to being weak and stuffing his face with so much food. “We’re going to race from one end of Kyoto to the other after this. I hope you know that.”

“Nah. Not race. You run faster than me, so I’ll just cheer you on.” Lance looked over his shoulder at him and smiled. “I appreciate you humoring me, at least. I know you hate it, but this…for me…is the only thing keeping me from snapping and making more of an ass out of myself than I already have. Besides, you would probably be pissed if I let you fall down the stairs.” He took slow steps so he was sure he wouldn’t be moving too much for Keith. “Stop me if you need to.”

“It’s just blood loss. You gave me back plenty. You should be watching for yourself.” Keith tapped the back of Lance’s head but not hard. “I’m at the point where I can worry about you now too.” He stepped down into the shop and looked around the quiet untroubled shelving. Pidge hadn’t opened since the incident, and everything appeared dark, silent, and dead. Clocks remained unwound and the tea kettle sat motionless still dripping room temperature water to the floor. 

Wrapping his arms around himself Keith took those first few steps into the shop. Hunk and Shiro had righted stands, but broken shelves still slanted downward. Oil from broken lamps stained the floor with small streaks where Pidge had tried to sweep up. “It doesn’t feel like home.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” Lance turned and wrapped his arms around Keith for a moment, kissing his forehead before he let go and walked to the counter, righting that tea kettle enough so that the water stopped dripping. The thing was almost empty after days of slowly leaking, but any little bit helped. He grabbed a towel from behind the counter and wiped the puddle off the floor. “I will try to help you feel comfortable again. And if it’s not here, that’s ok. I will get you anything you need.” 

He tossed the towel in a bin and walked back to Keith, taking one of his hands so he would have to stop hugging himself. “You are my home, Keith, so let me be yours.” He lifted that hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes searching Keith’s.

“Yeah and what money tree would that come from?” Keith arched a cryptic brow, but when Lance took his hand and folded his long fingers around his, Keith couldn’t keep the shock out of his face. “Careful Solider. Sounds like a marriage proposal, and I haven’t even met your parents yet. You Americans have those things called shotgun weddings. They’ll destroy me for defiling your honor.” Keith tried to joke. Tried to make light of the whole thing, but the air around him remained stagnant and stale like the atmosphere before the sudden violence of a storm. 

Lance took Keith’s other hand and lifted that to his lips, too, kissing each finger. “My parents will love you because I love you. Besides, you don’t have to worry about defiling my honor. I’m not pregnant.” He chuckled and kissed his fingers once more before he gently tugged him towards that door that led downstairs. 

Keith followed Lance while staring at the back of his head. “Eh.. eh?” His fingertips tingled still from the touch of Lance’s lips as he pulled him along. “Is it still locked?” He hadn’t been aware as he pressed in behind Lance’s back his chin on his shoulder.

Lance tried the knob, and he shook his head as the door popped open. He frowned at the familiarity of the staircase, but he swallowed down the unpleasant feeling and flicked the switch. The lights hummed slightly as they heated up and let off their pale glow. “Ready?”

Keith visibly flinched and clenched the sleeve of Lance’s shirt. “Now or never. Right?” 

“Hold onto me and don’t let go.” Lance nodded and slowly led Keith down the stairs and down the hall to that room where he found him. He hesitated in the doorway before he reached for another light switch and turned everything on. As the room lit up, he winced and averted his gaze from that surgical table. The hoses were still strewn about the floor. The mask that had been used to put Keith under was thrown haphazardly to the side. “Don’t look at the floor.” He whispered. Dried blood caked some of the concrete.

“Not my first time seeing a bloody floor.” Keith reminded Lance as he stepped around him and further into the lab. The night had been a blur and only now did he start to visualize it; Shiro slumped in the corner, Sam with crazed eyes looking down at him and apologizing for every burning stab into his veins, and for each time he pulled them out and replaced the needle one bigger for faster flow, desperate for all the man could give. 

“It’s different when it’s your blood.” Lance sighed and looked at him, tears starting to rim his eyes. “Maybe it was more of a warning for me than for you.” But he blinked back the water before it could fall, and he just carefully stepped over everything, looking around at the walls. “There?” He pointed to where some cloth had been moved, and it appeared that there were some large cylinders behind it.

Keith followed Lance’s gaze, noting how astute he’d been since Keith had barely said anything more than ‘hand.’ “Seems it could be.” Keith scratched his nail over the cold metal table remembering the feel of it against his back. 

Lance turned to that cloth, his hands clutching it. “Should I pull this?”

“Yeah.” Keith braced himself and looked up.

Lance uncovered the large cylinder and blinked. “It’s empty…” He murmured, brows furrowing as he peered into it as though he was missing something. “The hell…?”

“Maybe it was a dream.” Keith folded his arms and stared at the empty syringes. Hallucinations would be expected with so many drugs getting pumped into his system. Keith stepped forward and raised his hands to the glass, his despondent expression reflecting at him.

Lance moved behind Keith and rested his hands on the ones he had on the glass. “Maybe, but when I brought you out of here, you said it too, and you sounded so sure.” He sighed. “That’s why I wanted it to be just us to check it out first.”

Keith let his eyes drift up to Lance’s simulacrum. His back stiffened and his eyes went wide. “The reflection.” He spun at his heels, dodging past Lance and stepped up to a long black bleach stained sailcloth hiding the spandrel of the stairs. With a shaking hand he pulled the cloth down.

The room filled with a bright blue glow, the men shielding their eyes from the harshness of it until it settled.

“Shinjirarenai.” Keith placed a hand over his mouth as he stepped back, stumbling until he came to a slow sit on the floor, unaware his hand rested upon the needle cap Lance tossed in his rage a few days ago.

A woman floated, suspended in a liquid filled chamber. The fluid appearing to be viscous as sluggish bubbles drifted with leisure all around her, troubling her long wavy white hair. Dark skin shadowed ever darker still by the harshness of the blue glow surrounding her glass aquarium. 

Lance had turned when Keith pulled the sail down, and his eyes widened. “The…hell?” He lowered his hand to help Keith to his feet, now that the other man was on the ground, but his eyes were locked on the woman in the tank. “Who…is that?”

“Allura. Shiro’s Allura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Translation Notes**
> 
> Shinjirarenai - I don't believe it...


	16. Sagisō

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R for suggestive language~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Habenaria Radiata** _Sagisō 鷺草_ \- My thoughts will follow you into your dreams 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **NEW ART - A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)

“Shiro’s Allura.” 

Keith’s response rang in his ears, and Lance stared at the woman in the tank. The hand that he had extended out to Keith trembled a little, so he rested it on top of his lover’s head, stroking his hair in an attempt to comfort both of them. When Keith had explained about Shiro’s dreams of a woman, Lance just assumed it has been some long-forgotten affair or something. But this? The woman floating in front of them was like some sort of goddess, and here she was, suspended in some glowy blue stuff, and used for who knows what. 

His eyes locked on her face, which was the picture of serenity as she floated in a dreamless sleep. Or maybe she was dead. But considering Keith had said there was a hand that moved, dead wasn’t really it, was it? His gaze moved down to the console at the bottom of the tank, and his amazement quickly shifted to a scowl. The tubes that had been hooked up to Keith were connected to the contraption, and suddenly Lance felt his stomach lurch. Keith’s ‘treatments’ hadn’t been to test his blood to see what he was, it has been used to give to this woman. His resentment for Sam grew. Now they would definitely need answers.

“We have to get her out of there.” He found himself saying, pulling his hand from Keith’s hair as his eyes involuntarily followed those tubes back across the floor. He flinched slightly when he realized Keith’s hand was right on one of those needle caps. “And we need to get you off the floor before you accidentally cut yourself,” he whispered, crouching and resting his hand over Keith’s.

Keith’s hand flinched, his eyes dull as if seeing something miles away. “Huh?” He blinked a few times until he focused on Lance. “I-I.. it’s…” Keith stuttered. 

“The whole time…” He crawled forward dropping Lance’s hand, glass creaking as he moved through the broken bits tubes. When he placed his hands on the lower console, their shaking increased, traveling up his arms with Keith’s efforts to control them.

“Release… what if it hurts her?” 

Lance tried to stop Keith from crawling through the broken glass, but Keith seemed intent on his destination, so instead he moved behind him and helped him to his feet once he got to the tube. “What if being in there hurts her more? Isn’t releasing her a risk we should be willing to take?”

“I know it hurts her.” Keith whispered, his hand over the one reaching for him. “It’s cold. And she’s lonely. And scared.” Tears welled in his eyes, “We have to get her out of there!” Keith looked at the panel, frantic and anxious.

“Here?” A button with a German word written in metallic red capital letters flared up from the monochrome array of dials. ‘Notausloser’

Lance checked the console and wrapped his arms around Keith. “We will get her out of there. Breathe. Calm. We will do it okay?” He kissed the back of his head. “But you need to breathe before you push that button.”

“I’m breathing.” Keith wasn’t. “I’m okay.” He wasn’t. He looked about the room again, seeing for the first time from her perspective. How long had she been trapped here? Watching? Calling out for help? How long had Shiro had those nightmares? 

Keith’s back hurt. Every colored cell on his body grew roots and spread further into his skin, branching out into his muscles, tissues, and organs until every part of him felt like it could burst into flames. “Lance!” He didn’t wait and raised his hand up to slam down on the button with a cry of teeth gritting agony. 

Lance kept his arms around Keith, though the blue lion was needling into him like a thousand tiny icicles poking through his skin. But the closer he held Keith, and the more he tried to soothe him, the better the pinching sensation became until it felt more like he was being protected by something warm. And so he tried to pass that feeling off to Keith, his lips nuzzling his ear when the smaller man hit the button. 

He watched the glowing blue liquid start to drain into somewhere, Lance honestly couldn’t tell where it was going, but as it disappeared, the glass tubing also started to move, detaching from the top of the chamber and slowly moving down at a rate that kept whatever that goop was from spilling onto the floor. And as it drained, Allura’s body started to sag, still barely being cushioned by that chemical. 

Lance let go of Keith and pulled his shirt off as he stepped around and up onto the platform, not caring that he had to step over the descending glass and into the concoction. He caught Allura and knelt as the last of the liquid drained, leaving a bit of a blue sheen on her body, which was most definitely naked. He glanced at Keith before tugging the shirt over her head and carefully pulling her arms through the sleeves. At the very least, she would probably be cold if she was even still alive. “We should get her upstairs and into the bath.”

Keith stared at Lance in awe. Calm, collected and completely cool under fire. He didn’t ask any questions, his mind didn’t appear to be racing. He did what had to be done like it was the most natural thing in the world. Meanwhile Keith stood where he was, the pain in his body silenced to a dull throb. “Y-yeah. Can you carry her?” He shook his head to clear it. 

Keith made way for the two of them, stepping back and over the glass and needles on the floor. He noticed the end of the tubes coming to two fine points on the top of the chamber where Allura had been suspended. His blood? They were giving her his blood? That didn’t make any sense. Keith stared at the contraption a moment longer before he stepped forward. “Go on ahead. I want to see something.” His voice dull, void of any urgency as he reached inside the enclosure.

“No!” The woman in Lance’s arms screamed, forcing Keith to jump back and hold his chest in alarm.

“Holy shit!? She’s alive!?”

“Definitely, if the ringing in my ears is any indication.” Lance winced at the scream that was practically in his ear, but he didn’t flinch. If his army training was good for one thing, at least it was this. “Woah woah. Calm down.” He murmured, first in English, and then in his badly accented Japanese, if she could even understand either language. He kept his arms around her, still half cradling her as he remained kneeled at her side. 

“O-okay. Yeah.” Keith’s heart beat in wild rhythms. “You’re right. Let’s go.” He checked over his shoulder as Allura lost consciousness again, slumping into Lance’s arms. “I’ll follow behind, I don’t want her waking up and thrashing around and force you down the stairs.”

Lance sighed. “Not If it means you’re going to stay in here and look around while I’m carrying her.” He carefully picked Allura up, holding her against his chest as he took slow steps off the platform. “And you’re still kind of tired aren’t you? Can you make it up the stairs without me?” He didn’t want to pressure Keith, but he was more worried about his lover than he was about the woman in his arms.

“I’ll be right behind you. And I’ll use the railing. You have your hands full.”

“Promise?” Lance looked at Keith, the concern evident in his eyes, even if he was forcing himself calm. He needed to be. He had to be the rock right now, since he could tell Keith was near panic. “Will you at least put your other hand on my back so I can feel better about it?”

“Yes.” Keith didn’t tell him he was going to do that anyway. “I’m right behind you. Go. She needs help more than I do.”

Lance nodded and walked, keeping his pace slow enough that Keith wouldn’t lag behind, the hand on his back more of a comfort to him than he could possibly let Keith know. “As long as you still need me.” He murmured, stopping when they got to the top of the stairs to the studio. “We…should send for Hunk. Maybe not for Shiro and Pidge yet. I don’t know if they can handle this right now.” He somehow opened the door and stepped inside, still holding Allura against his chest. “But Hunk can at least get some clothes and some food…”

“Shay. He should bring Shay.” Keith whispered to Lance’s ear to reaffirm his proximity to him. “Pidge and Shiro are not reachable right now.” Once they made it inside the apartment, Keith scooted around the two and into the bathroom. He ran the water, testing the temperature. “Set her down slowly.” 

Lance nodded and carefully set Allura in the water, keeping his shirt on her in case she woke up and panicked again. “Yeah, Shay. Good call.” He nuzzled Keith’s hair a little once his arms were no longer full. “What else should I tell them to bring?”

“I don’t know. What do you get for a woman kept in your basement?” Keith sat on the edge of the bath, his lip snarling up as he watched a blue film form on the top of the water as it lifted from her skin. He touched her arm, the flesh warm and pliant. Her skin was darker than Lance’s. Was she African? Egyptian? Her complexion and white hair confused him, but it amplified her beauty. The way she said ‘no’ before. It was accented English. Perhaps she was from one of the British colonies? South Africa.

A kind hand lowered to push the silver hair out of her face and back into the water. “She wanted to go home.” Keith whispered to Lance. “In Shiro’s dreams. She whispered about home, the times Shiro could understand her.” 

Lance watched Keith, swallowing down any pangs of cynical negativity. It wasn’t even really that kind of feeling anyway. It was more like a mixture of concern and dread. What if something happened to Keith because of this? But should he be so tense when this woman clearly needed help? No. Instead he had to focus. He had to be there for Keith. “Then we will find where home is, and we will get her there.” He kissed the top of Keith’s head and stepped out of the bathroom. With a sigh, he went to the telephone and called up Shay’s restaurant. He kept the explanation minimal, asking for food, blankets, and loose dresses. Hunk tried to ask more, but Lance assured him he would explain when the two arrived. 

“They’ll be here soon.” He stepped back into the bathroom. “Do you want me to do this so you can rest?”

“I’ll be fine.” Keith whispered softly as he kept soothing her hair, the only place propriety allowed him to touch. Even if his intentions were pure and honest, she might have a different view if she woke up. The soaked shirt she had on did very little to maintain modesty, and while Keith had no interest in such things, he was still a guy, and the situation lingered on delicate lines he didn’t want to cross. Shay could help them. Shay could wash her, get her dressed, and help keep her calm. She was good at those kinds of things. In the same way Hunk was good at those kinds of things. “So, we wait.”

“All right.” Lance sat next to him and rested his hand on his back, rubbing in an attempt to soothe him, though he needed the comfort as well, and this was helping. “This… I never expected something like this.”

“Who would have?” Keith sat back on Lance’s leg as he leaned forward on folded arms. “Shiro is going to be… I don’t even know. I just can’t believe it’s her. There… for all of it. All this time. Lance. What were they doing to her?” He turned those violet eyes on the darker skinned man. “What in all the hells could possibly provoke someone to do these things to another person?”

“I don’t know, Keith. I really don’t.” Lance sighed and kept his hand moving on his back. “I can’t even fathom it to be honest, but I think it’s safe to say that we really have to make sure this doesn’t get out beyond us, and Shay of course.”

“We’re here!” Hunk shouted as he opened the door. Lance had left it unlocked for them, and slowly stepped inside. “Keith? Lance?” 

“We’re in the bathroom. We need Shay in here.” Lance called. 

Keith got to his feet in a slow unbending of his body and opened the bathroom door. “She needs to get cleaned up and dressed in something warm.” He spoke to Shay without lifting his eyes from the floor.

“O-okay?” The thick boned woman smiled down at Keith, and even with his head bowed he could feel the warmth radiating from it. She was Japanese but still spoke in her accent broken English for the benefit of Hunk, no matter what she was doing. 

“Once she’s okay. We’ll explain more.” Keith walked to his wardrobe, opening the folding doors and hiding behind them like a makeshift changing screen. 

“And where are you going?” Hunk asked, already fussing in the kitchen. Keith had no idea his cabinets were so stocked with food until Hunk became a regular fixture in his life. 

“Someone needs to find Shiro and Pidge.”

“And that’s you, why?”

“Who else would they listen to?”

“Lance.” Hunk said, simply. 

“Woah woah woah.” Lance registered the conversation and scrambled to his feet. He looked at Shay apologetically as he passed her before he stopped at the wardrobe. “Nope. You’re not going anywhere. Not happening.” He crossed his arms and frowned. “One, you’re in no condition to travel that far right now, and we already did a lot today. Two, there’s no way you’re leaving without me. Three, there’s no way either of us are leaving her in a bathtub with people she didn’t see in that brief moment she was awake. If ANYONE is going to find Pidge and Shiro, it’ll have to be Hunk.”

Hunk nodded along with each of his conditions, then stopped. “Wait, what? Me? I wouldn’t know what to tell them!”

“You don’t have to tell them anything about this. You tell them that Keith and I need the two of them. Even if they don’t care about me, they at least care enough about Keith to come barreling back here with you.”

“Pidge adores you. She’s just not affectionate with-“

“Flesh and blood.” Shay commented, cutting Keith off from the bathroom. “Oh dear. Where did you find such a person?” Keith heard the water move about as Shay started to clean the girl, but he was too focused on Lance to comment.

“Hunk can go.” Keith stated, having no other choice. He knew Lance wouldn’t let him go two feet toward the door without being on him. “Do you know where to go Hunk? Matt’s place?”

“Uh. If you tell me where it is, I can get there no problem.” Hunk blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. 

Lance’s shoulders slumped and he stepped away from the wardrobe. He moved back to the bathroom door, but had his back to the opening so he couldn’t see Shay washing Allura. “Thanks, Shay.” He murmured, his eyes locking on the floor.

“Do not mention things that I would do gladly.” Shay continued to fuss. “You both should be resting. Keith is going to fall into the floor if he does not lay soon in his bed.”

Keith sighed with a helpless grin he finished changing his clothing into something dry. He knew defeat when he saw it. He sat down on the couch, leaving the bed open for Allura and Shay, his eyes wondering up to Lance. He didn’t voice anything, but the question was written all over his feline face. ‘sit by me.’

Lance nodded and walked to his overnight bag and pulled out his spare pants and shirt, shimmying behind the wardrobe door to change out of the trousers coated with sticky blue goo and cover his bare chest. When he finished, he walked over to the couch and sat next to Keith, draping his arm around his shoulders. 

Hunk grabbed a piece of paper and brought it over to Keith. “Just tell me where to go, and I’ll go.”

Keith nodded, “It’s in the same area you bring the food.” Keith drew out a small map, handing the paper back saying, “Be careful.” He curled into Lance’s side finding the perfect place for his body to fit, nestled in with his head half turned into his shoulder.

Lance held Keith and rubbed his shoulder a bit. “Thank you Hunk.”

“Yeah no worries man.” Hunk grinned at both of them before he stopped at the bathroom, but he too kept his gaze from entering the room as he spoke to Shay. “I won’t be long, Shay, are you okay here?” 

“I shall be fine. Go do what you have to do.” For a moment Shay popped her head out of the door, her short cropped hair falling over his face as she gave Hunk a small peck on his cheek. 

At some point, Keith drifted off, nuzzled in to Lance and eased by the smooth rise and fall of his breathing. The motion reminded Keith of a calm ocean wave on a drifting boat. Keith never cared for it, but he’d be willing to give it a second chance. 

Lance was the ocean. With skin the color of fresh wet sand, eyes matching the water’s hue at high noon, lips the color for coral, hair the matching shade of drifting wood softened and gently bleached by the sun. The scent of him surrounded him. Fresh and light, a cresting wave with a gentle mist. “Nnm..” He murmured. 

Lance held Keith at his side and gently rubbed his shoulder to keep him soothed. He relaxed, even as he listened carefully to what Shay was doing in case she needed help, and as tempting as it was to fall asleep like this, warm and comfortable, he knew he shouldn’t. There was too much going on, and Keith still needed more rest than he did.

Shay came out of the bathroom moments later, her arms holding Allura in a small bundle. Laying her down, she wrapped a blanket quickly about her shoulders. “There are questions even I know better than to ask.” She stood up and smiled over at the two men curled together on the couch.

“He is very lucky to have come across you, Lance. Hunk tells me several stories, and it makes me happy to see him with you. I do not know Keith very well outside of our ‘activities’ but I do know love and that is what I see in such a restful face.”

Lance smiled at her and nodded. “Well, thank you. I feel like I’m the lucky one.” He continued to hold Keith, but he glanced back at the bed at Allura before looking back at Shay. “And thank you for all your help. With this, with Hunk, everything. I know it must be difficult when you’re just thrown into something like this…”

“I am happy to help with the things I can do. All of you work hard. I wish to do more.” Shay rested her hand on Allura’s forehead. “She is warm, and breathing well. I hope she wakes soon.”

“Me too. Thank you.” Lance smiled and looked at her. “Hunk will be back soon, I’m sure.”

\-----

Stepping out the room, Pidge rubbed her forehead as she sat with a flop on a cracking wood bench. The strap of her overalls dragging then clinking against the floor. The narrow stuffy space suffocated her, and every time someone walked upstairs dirt and sand fell below the floor boards and into her hair and eyes. She hated being here. She hated that her father rested in a wood and stone cellar, but Matt was right. They couldn’t do much more than this. “Yeah. It’s what I thought. It’s hard to figure how bad it is, but is pretty classic for long exposure to mercury.”

Shiro was leaning against the wall and watched Pidge’s movements, his forehead wrinkled in deep in thought. “And how long ago do you think it started to get bad? Right around the time he started pushing Keith more and shutting me out?”

“Depends on the dosage and the amounts. I can’t tell right now, but if it’s been about a month.” Pidge leaned her head back against the wall. “I noticed he was acting off, but I thought it was because he was double timing at the shop and working on the clock tower.”

Shiro closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, are we able to get him treatment? Matt’s got that covered I hope?” He looked at her and rested his other hand on her shoulder. “We’ll make sure to take care of him, okay?”

“Even after what he did to Keith?” Pidge eyed the large Asian man. “ I know things haven’t been the greatest between you two lately, but… it’s still you and Keith.” 

“Well if it was because of mercury exposure and not some sort of ill intent.” Shiro sighed and patted her shoulder. “Think about it for a moment. Do you think Keith would be okay with us just abandoning your father?”

“No. Because Keith is Keith. Stubborn as hell. The world can kick the snot out of him, and he’ll still find a reason to keep going. Or do what’s ‘right.’” Pidge provided air quotes over her last word then idly itched her arm. “It just feels like there should be more to this than that. Something isn’t adding up.”

“That’s true, but we also can’t figure it out if we just leave him, can we?” Shiro shook his head. “If there’s something else there, we’ll find it.” His brows furrowed. “And I’m sure there’s something else there. Your father isn’t stupid enough to expose himself to that much mercury, is he?”

“There’s a lot of things my father shouldn’t be stupid enough to do. But I don’t know how much brains has to do with it.” Pidge shifted uncomfortably and itched her arm more. 

“That’s what I mean.” Shiro sighed. “I don’t think he’s done something stupid just for the sake of doing something stupid, but we won’t find out until he recovers.” 

“It’s going to take time. We’ll get a safe house for him until then. Matt will see to it. We have our other messes to settle. There’s five of us now. And I’m pretty sure things are going to get a lot more complicated.”

“Of course they are. Like we could ever have it easy?” Shiro shook his head, but then he heard footsteps above. Deliberate ones, heavy set ones. “…Is that who I think it is?”

Pidge’s ears visibly perked up, and she sighed. “It’s Hunk.”

“We better go up there, then. He’s obviously here for us. Keith must have told him.” He pushed off the wall and rested his hand on Pidge’s head. “And it’ll be good to get you out of this dusty place.”

“Yeah.” Pidge stood up, following Shiro’s broad frame as they walked up the steps. She blinked at the panicked breathless Hunk and the sensation was contagious. “Hunk!? What’s wrong? Is it Keith? Lance? What happened?”

Hunk bent over and rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Keith… sent me to find you.” He gasped a little and looked at them. “Said it’s important, wouldn’t let me say why. Just that you need to get back. Both of you.”

Shiro frowned a little. “Is he okay?” When Hunk didn’t answer, he groaned. “All right, let’s hurry, but maybe not run or you might collapse.”

\-----

“Mmn.” Keith nuzzled his face into a warm chest, his back hurt a little but he didn’t care. The arms around him were strong and a sweet breath blew against his hair. “What time is it?” He groaned as he started to sit up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

Lance shook his head. “It’s not much later than when you fell asleep. Hunk should be getting them or bringing them back right about now.” He nuzzled Keith’s hair and smiled. 

“I should get up and check on Allura.”

“She is fine.” Shay’s gentle voice came from the bed where she still sat, stroking the soft tuffs of Allura’s silver hair. “You are able to relax longer. Please do.”

Keith’s cheeks burned as he nodded, realizing he slept on Lance in the presence of someone he barely knew. 

Lance smiled and tapped one of Keith’s cheeks. “Did you forget she was here?” He whispered before nuzzling again. “Relax. It’ll be okay.”

“Oh do not pay me any mind. After all you used my shower, and the walls are quite thin.”

Keith groaned and lowered his head into Lance’s shoulder. He couldn’t convince himself it wasn’t the time or the place to feel embarrassed. “Seriously?”

“Oh dear. It was supposed to be a secret perhaps?” Shay held her hand over her mouth but the glimmer of wicked delight in her eye gave her merriment away. 

Lance laughed a little and shook his head, clearing the blush that was now staining his cheeks. “Is that so? Even though you were busy in the kitchen with Hunk hm?” He grinned a little and held Keith a little closer. “Well, thank you for kind of keeping our secret.”

“Well someone should be better at keeping secrets than you two are.” 

“Oh for the love of- can we drop it? Please?” Keith groaned, sitting up. He felt and appeared several shades healthier than he had hours ago.

Lance laughed again and let go of Keith when he sat up. “Sorry sorry.”

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice echoed up the stairwell as he ran up it. “Are you okay?” He pushed open the door and stopped short, staring at the group. “What…?” His eyes widened as they landed on the figure on the bed. “Is…that…?”

“Shiro!” Keith darted up from the couch to step between the older man and the bed. “Shiro calm down. Focus on me.” 

Keith looked so small next to the biceps and height of the square jawed Shiro. But the power in Keith’s voice was enough to still the room. He never had to raise his voice, and yet the tone commanded obedience. 

Shiro blinked at Keith, who’s gaze never faltered. “It’s her? I know it. I-“

“Shiro.” Keith said again. “Not until you calm down.”

Pidge sat on the arm of the couch observing the exchange. She knew of Keith’s abilities to charm a room. Bearing witness to the skill was a rarity, even more so to see it be used against Shiro.

Lance sat on the couch where Keith left him, silently watching the exchange. He kept his gaze on Keith, though he noted the way Hunk moved to stand in front of the door so none of them could run. Not yet anyway.

“How did you…” Shiro stammered as he stared over Keith’s shoulder at Allura. “Where…?”

Lance sighed. “Down in the basement, in the room where Keith was being drained.” He kept his voice soft, his eyes locked on Shiro, though he actually reached out and rested a hand on Pidge’s arm as though it could keep her calm. “Keith’s blood was going into some big tube, and she was in it.”

Keith looked coolly to Lance then turned his gaze back to Shiro. “We don’t know anything yet. I don’t know why she was given my blood. She hasn’t woken up, but you know it’s her. The one in your dreams. We all feel it.” Keith pressed his hand to the center of Shiro’s chest just below his collar. He tugged his shirt down, exposing the top of a black tattoo. 

An iron observance went about the room as Keith challenged anyone to say differently. “Sit down on the floor, and relax.”

Lance nodded a little, but he bowed his head after he spoke, and his hand fell from Pidge’s arm to fall into his lap. He only looked up when Pidge rested her hand on his shoulder. He lifted his hand and patted hers, trying to smile, though his lips only twitched before he looked down again.

Shay continued to sit on the bed at Allura’s side, pushing some of her hair out of her face before she turned a little and smiled at Shiro. “She’s alive, and she seems okay. There are no injuries anywhere on her body.”

Shiro nodded his head as he lowered to floor. “Happy?” There was a childlike bitterness to Shiro’s voice as he stared up at Keith, but it had more to do with him admitting the younger man was right and in far more control of the situation than he should have been.

“No. But this will do.” With a long breath Keith walked and sat at Lance’s side and asked the question he knew to be burning in his lover. “What did Sam have to say?”

Pidge stiffened and adjusted her glasses. “He asked how you were.” From the corner of her eye she saw Keith stiffen. “Didn’t seem to know where he was. Or how he got there. He barely recognized me or Matt.”

Lance looped his arm around Keith and remained calm, though he could feel a pit of fire starting in his stomach. “So he doesn’t know what he did? Or does he?”

Hunk stepped away from the door when he was sure no one was going to storm out, and he walked to the kitchen to check the food he brought with Shay earlier. “Listen. If you are all going to be super serious, you all at least need to eat something…”

“Hard to say.” Pidge pulled her knee up to her chest. “He knows what he did. He doesn’t comprehend the severity of it. At some point in those few days, Keith stopped registering as human to him. And you say she was found down stairs too?”

Shiro watched the three on the couch, smiling briefly at Hunk as he walked by. “We don’t know how long she was kept down there. Or why Keith was giving her blood, and if this was all the Mercury poisoning…” Shiro trailed off.

“That wouldn’t make sense.” Pidge completed. 

“If she was kept down there for so long, and he’d been running these ‘experiments’ on Keith since… what?” Hunk asked, peering over his shoulder.

“Since I was five.” Keith offered silently. “Shiroganesan and Sam both.” Violet red rimmed embers looked to Shiro before staring back down at the floor. His hand cold as he wrapped it into Lance’s. 

Lance squeezed Keith’s hand and turned his head, pressing his lips against his temple. 

“The mercury poisoning only potentially explains why he’s become so unhinged, it doesn’t explain anything else.” Pidge sighed. “And we won’t really know anything about that until he’s recovered, if he even decides to tell us anything.”

“And it’s not like we can ask her.” Lance nodded a little to Allura. “She woke up for a brief moment when we got her out of the tube, and all she did was scream before she passed out.”

“She screamed?” Shiro tensed. “In pain?” 

“No.” Keith whispered. “I was reaching for something inside the tank, and she screamed ‘no.’”

“No?” Shiro asked.

“No.” Keith repeated softly.

“So we should go down there and check it out? It’s kind of creepy that all this is happening right under us.” Pidge supplied.

“Lemme get this straight. You want to go down into the creepy lab basement of children’s nightmares, and poke around with equipment a floating tube lady scream at Keith for touching before passing out?”

“Yeah.” Pidge answered, deadpan.

“Just checking.” Hunk nodded. “You’ve all lost it.” 

“Hunk.” Shay whispered in a silent scold.

“No no no… hear me out because this all makes absolutely no sense. None of you are thinking with a clear head.” He looked right at Pidge. “None of you.”

“Hunk’s right. At the very least we should wait until she wakes up before any of us go back down there.” Lance looked at Pidge, then at Shiro. “Right now, this is the best course of action. If you really need to busy yourselves with something, the shop is a mess. But neither of you, and none of us, should go down there right now. It just isn’t time.”

Pidge clenched her fists, but she grunted in agreement. She wasn’t exactly keen on going down there just yet anyway, but she would go if Shiro was going to go. But judging from the stern look on Lance’s face, Keith wouldn’t agree with it either.

“Hunk is right.” Hunk stated. “Hunk is right a about a lot of things. Hunk would also be right to say that we should high tail it out of here at the first chance we get. When she wakes up.”

“We can’t, what if-“

“What if there’s more than just Mr. Holt behind all this? Hm? Thought of that? One logical look at any of it, and it’s obvious he hadn’t been working alone.” Hunk started plating up some food. “There’s no way he could have organized and did all this at once.”

“I never saw anyone else.” Keith sat up a bit straighter.

“Keith, no offense, but you’re not the best witness.” Hunk licked food from his fingers and pointed at each gathered person in turn. “Blood loss, drugged up, and exhausted on every level possible.” He said to Keith then to Lance. “Love sick and invested.” To Pidge. “Father involved.” On to Shiro. “Nightmare or Dream lady is a reality.” Then to himself. “Sick of watching from the audience.” 

“And where do you propose we go?” Shiro lifted his head to Hunk. “If you really think we should leave, we can’t stay anywhere they’d know to look for us. And you two…” He motioned to Hunk, then to Lance, “Kind of have a problematic job you can’t just leave.”

Lance frowned. “If you can give me a few hours, I can get us both out of it, but you’d have to trust me.” He held Keith a little closer as though that would comfort both of them. 

“Then perhaps you should go now, hm?” Shiro returned Lance’s frown. “If you are going to get it done before she wakes up.”

“No.” Lance shook his head. “She needs to wake up first. And we need to agree on a place. And then I will do what I need to do. I can’t do it if anyone’s still going to be resting here, especially if this is way more than what it seems.”

Shay gave her kind smile. “You shouldn’t have to wait too long. She’s waking up.”

The group moved as one toward the bed, until Keith cleared his throat forcing them to freeze in place. 

“We shouldn’t overwhelm her.” Shiro whispered from the floor. “We’re alien to her.”

“She’s already seen Keith and Lance, at least.” Hunk shrugged and cleaned up some of the food. “She might recognize them. But Shay’s the one who took care of her so let her gauge everything first?”

Lance nodded, though he was only half paying attention. He kept holding Keith against his side, his brows furrowed.

The woman stirred, a soft groan accompanied a gentle whimper as she shielded her eyes from the lamp light, which dimmed with an eyebrow arch from Keith. 

Hunk started to prepare a bowl of broth when he heard that whimper, and he glanced over his shoulder at the others, his eyes focusing on Shay. 

Lance turned his head towards the sound, though his forehead was still wrinkled in thought. 

“Please take it carefully. You have been though hardship.” Shay whispered to the opalescent eyes blinking up at her. “Can you understand my words?” Shay continued in her endlessly patient voice.

“Yes. I understand.” At the sound of Allura’s voice, Shiro flinched, turning his head to the women, brows furrowed, stretching the scar over his nose.

Lance shifted and glanced over at Shiro before he slowly let go of Keith and stood. He took slow steps behind Shay and stopped so he wasn’t close, but so Allura could see him, and hopefully at least recognize him as the one who helped her. He managed a little smile before he spoke, keeping his voice quiet. “How do you feel?”

“Lance?” Allura’s voice came out soft, with a British intonation yet clipped. “Ah, I do remember you.” With Shay’s help, the woman sat up, his hair falling around her like woven stars. “I remember all of you, through him.” She pointed to Keith whose expression never changed. 

“Eh?” Lance’s eyes widened. How did she know his name? Was she really passed out the whole time? Did she hear it? What did she mean by knowing him through Keith? He looked over at Keith with wide eyes, as though to ask ‘what the hell?’ but he kept all of it unvoiced, mostly since his facial expressions definitely gave his feelings away. He shook his head a little and looked at Allura again. “Uh…So…Are you okay?”

“I do not know how well I am, I’m afraid. I cannot remember the last time I felt air against my skin.” Allura stroked her arms as she talked. 

“How did you end up there?” Keith asked in a voice as light as his foot falls as he walked up behind Lance. “How long?”

“I’ve known you since you were a boy. You were my predecessor to confinement.” Allura had her head bowed low. 

“What?” Keith stepped forward. “What do you mean?”

Lance moved so he could stand behind Keith, wrapping his arms around him and resting his chin on his shoulder as they both looked at Allura. He glanced at Pidge out of the corner of his eye, and she just nodded once. She was listening. They were all listening, but none of them were going to overwhelm Allura. “So…You’ve been in there that whole time…?”

“N-no.” Allura shook her head. “I was someplace else before. I was only recently placed here. but I couldn’t tell you when. My concept of time is a bit hazy, but I’d say, based off what I was picking up from you all, about two maybe three months ago.” 

“You said I was your predecessor.” Keith dared, doing his best to keep his voice level. “What does that mean?”

“You and I share a common history. Or ancestry. Nothing so blatant as grandparents but think of it as a split down a direct family line a long time ago. Our DNA is exceedingly close one another. I’m not sure on much more of the particulars than that. I was of a family line of queens and tribal rulers before the colonization’s butchery under a flag of ‘modernization’ came to my country.”

Keith pressed his weight into Lance, letting the man support him. 

“Keith, you are of a line of a dark path. If I must use biblical references you’re Cain. Your ancestry is the same but different. A line of warlords and conquerors.”

“That’s a bit much.” Hunk added as he handed Shay the broth.

“I don’t say it to be upsetting. I say it for truth of the fact. It is not a mark on his character. I know the type of man Keith is. The Holts and Shiroganes saved Keith as much as they condemned him. He was forcefully taken from a lab, not unlike the one where I was placed. In Korea.” Silver brows furrowed in deep sympathy as she gazed at the man curled up against the blue lion. “Your memories are old and cloudy, and I’m sure it’s for the best.”

Lance nodded slowly with Allura’s words, but he frowned and turned his head to look at Pidge. Given the shocked expression on her face, she clearly knew nothing about Allura’s words. So he turned his gaze towards Shiro. He knew he wasn’t the one who did what Sam and Shiro’s father did to Keith, but if he knew anything about any of this, Lance didn’t know what he would do. “Did you know anything about any of that?” His arms tightened around Keith, but not enough to hurt the smaller man. 

Shiro studied Lance’s face. He could tell the younger man was barely holding it together, knowing he was doing it for Keith’s sake. “No, I didn’t. I was just a boy when they brought Keith home. I thought I gained a little brother. They told me he was sick, and they were helping him.”

“I cannot speak for their intentions. I know none of us wish to think ill of your kin. However, through him the fire spread, and they found me, and then I found each of you.” A gentle smile curved Allura’s tired lips. “Black knight.” She whispered, her expression affectionate. 

“You were the first I chose. The one I could reach out to. Then the sprightful green youth with an abundance of curiosity. Then Lance, the calming gentle blue aura of the caretaker. Doting of those around him and a healer of mind and… body.” Allura blushed the faintest amount before looking to Hunk. “Courage and warmth and the embracing golden heart of mother earth.”

“So you were connected to Keith that whole time?” Lance’s arms remained around Keith and he sighed, resting his chin on his shoulder once more. “And you’ve just been in another lab or something? That’s really sad. For both of you.” 

Hunk remained by Shay’s side and he just grinned a little at Allura. “Not to take away from the mood here, but do you eat? I mean if you’ve been in some weird blue goop for who knows how long, maybe food’s not great, but there’s some broth I made just in case.”

“Thank you, Hunk. It would be nice to have something in my stomach aside from goop.” Allura flittered his eyes to Lance. “Do not feel sorry me. I managed to experience a full life thanks to the lot of you through my tether to Keith, and through him, I was tied to each one of you. I’ve seen your hearts through his eyes.”

“So you’re the infection? Patient zero. Not Keith?” Pidge asked.

“In matter of speaking. Yes. Keith however held the dormant gene.” Allura weakly patted her shoulder as Keith touched the top of his tattoo. “Exposure to myself awakened it. Keith is the blood and fire while I am the energy for the force you all use.”

“But why. To what purpose?” Pidge pushed again.

“If not you. It could be someone else. Someone less trustworthy to wield the alchemic properties you have been granted.” She sipped at the broth and closed her eyes and allowed the liquid to warm her core.

“So you are the root of abilities, but my blood fueled your energy?” Keith asked.

“Yes. Like a Sparker.” Allura’s eyes shimmered.

Keith was taken aback by the analogy and pressed into Lance. 

“They were getting frantic towards the end.” Allura continued. “They needed to find the next one and the next one. Wanting control over who and what. I tuned them out, but I had to give it to someone. Or I would have lost myself to it. They forced my hand by exposing me to Keith’s blood.” She finished, laying back on the bed, handing the bowl to Shay. 

Shay quietly took the bowl and handed it back to Hunk, concern in her eyes, though she smiled at him. Hunk nodded and took it, his fingers brushing hers before he went back to the kitchen.

Lance sighed and nuzzled Keith’s hair a bit, hoping to calm him even if he wasn’t outwardly freaking out. This was a lot, for sure, and he was convinced the smaller man’s mind was reeling. “Maybe…this is a lot…maybe even too much for today?” He glanced at the others. “I mean, we’ll have to leave soon anyway, so we can have a better conversation elsewhere? Somewhere…safer?”

At some point Keith turned in Lance’s arm, his face pressing against his shoulder and wrapped himself in a tight circle about him. His body hurt. His head hurt. Everything hurt and throbbed. He wanted to shut off. He’d gotten what he wished for. Allura told them more than she had to, more than Keith thought she could possibly understand, but the caged goddess had known more about what was happening to them than those walking and breathing in a world she couldn’t reach. 

“Yeah. Like I said. Somewhere safer. Somewhere like far away. How much time do you think we’ll need Lance?” Hunk set the bowl in the sink.

“Don’t go tonight.” Keith murmured into Lance’s shoulder. 

“I won’t.” Lance whispered into Keith’s hair before he turned to Hunk. “I think…I can get what I need to get done in a few hours tomorrow, and I can buy us at least a week with that, so we should obviously leave before that week is up. We all have things we need to wrap up before we go, right?”

Pidge nodded the affirmative. “I could use a day to settle up the shop and talk to Matt about dad.” She pushed herself off the arm of the couch. 

“Then it’s settled. I’ll stay here tonight and protect Allura and Shay. Lance, take Keith to Coran’s. He needs to get out of this place for a night or two, and Coran has physicians on hand who can see to anything he might still need.” Shiro stood up, the concern on his face spilled over into every expression in the room. He’d never seen Keith look so spent. 

Hunk blinked a little and pointed to himself before he shook his head a little. “I will stay here too. Help out, help Pidge if there’s any heavy lifting that needs to be done.” He smiled and glanced at Shay, clearly preferring to be with her, but he knew when he shouldn’t argue.

Lance nodded and lifted a hand to stroke some of Keith’s hair. “If you don’t think you can walk that far, I’ll carry you on my back okay?” He grinned lightly. 

“I’m too heavy for you to carry that far.” Keith arched up his brow. 

“A rickshaw. There’s a guy just down the street. He’ll do it, and for a few extra coins, he won’t say a word to anyone about it.” Pidge offered.

“At least wait until we’re alone before you ruin my romantic gesture.” Lance pouted a little.

Hunk chuckled. “Well, you two better go before it gets too dark.”

“Wait,” Shay said standing up. “We know this place and all of us are being watched. They know Keith. They possibly know Lance. Might I make a suggestion to ease your travel?”

“Suggestion?” Keith turned to Shay and followed the trail of her eyes to his wardrobe. “Really?”

“It would be least expected.” Shay pushed. 

“All right.” Keith rolled his eyes before looking at Lance. “Go with Pidge. Get the rickshaw. I’ll be down in a moment.”

“Yes, please. And do take this.” Shay handed Lance a heavy rimmed hat. “To help hide your face.”

Lance nodded slowly and looked to Pidge as he pulled his uniform jacket on and plopped the hat on his head. “All right. I guess you’re stuck with me for the time being.”

“Great.” Pidge’s sarcasm was thick, but she walked to the door and waited for Lance, and when he was at her side, she led him down the stairs and out the side entrance, her hands linked behind her head as they traversed the alley to speak to the man with the rickshaw.

It took slightly longer than Lance would have liked, but he was on his way back to the shop soon enough. Pidge assured him that everything would be fine. She knew this guy. He was definitely reliable. Then again, he wasn’t really sure they needed secrecy, at least in this regard. Lance had been to the geisha house before. It was obvious he was going there to see someone. And if Keith was dressed up as that someone, maybe no one would even notice them. It’s not like they noticed things before, right?

He sighed a little and closed his eyes, taking a moment to decompress after all of that. It was too much for him, so he couldn’t even imagine how it felt for Keith.

When the rickshaw stopped, he opened his eyes and blinked. Keith stood on the sidewalk, looking as beautiful as ever in that blue kimono he bought just for Lance. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he looked at him, the way his hair framed his face, which was barely tinted by the makeup he wore. It was nothing like the thick paint when he pretended to be Keiko. His features still looked softer, but they didn’t look as feminine as before, even with the slight gloss of his lips and faint blush of his cheeks.

The lavender eye-makeup only accented the amethyst of his eyes. His hair was wrapped neatly but also messily on his head, secured by a silver hairpin. Well, it looked like some sort of wheel spoke instead of a hairpin, and he smiled at how…Keith…that was. Even the kimono looked more like beautiful cloth draped over his very male lover instead of hugging a woman’s curves. He smiled, and he slid off the seat, and walked towards Keith with slow, steady steps.

“You look amazing.” He whispered as he held his hand out to him. “Shall we?”


	17. Sayuri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R for suggestive language/violence~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Orange Lily** _Sayuri 小百合_ \- Hatred/Revenge 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)

Keith sat up, lifting his body from the futon with a chorus of cracks and snaps. Across the room his kimono and belongings laid in a neat pile on the the table. Each article folded by strict trained fingers. He smiled, turning to Lance who still slept face down into the pillow, snores escaping every so often. 

He knew Lance stayed up past the time Keith had fallen asleep. He couldn’t be blamed for crashing so early. After everything at his apartment, Lance took Keith to the Okiya and carried him up the stairs to lay him down like a new bride on their futon. Keith shivered at the memory. Too weak to move, Lance babied and pampered every part of his broken body with gentle kisses. From his fingertips down to his toes. 

Lance never let Keith move a finger as he took him to the peaks of pleasure, riding upon the gentle rolling waves of gentle love making. He knew Keith’s ache. He felt it as if it were his own. He knew swelling pain in the older man’s heart and did all he could to quell the inflammation. Lance loved him. Lance worshiped him. If Keith ever had a doubt, it had been washed away inside his embrace.

“I love you.” Keith whispered, closing his red puffy eyes as he kissed Lance’s temple. He cried last night. Harder than he had the night in the rain. Lance exposed him, and Lance came down around him like the folding wings of an angel and took him away, if only for a moment, from all that could hurt him.

Keith stood up, his naked body shivering in the morning chill as he grabbed a robe to wrap around is body. 

“If you love me so much, you should stay down here with me.” Lance mumbled, face half in the pillow, though he turned his head enough to see Keith. He knew there were thousands of conflicting thoughts running through the other man’s brain. He had his own, but he pushed them aside for Keith’s sake, and he wanted Keith to at least try to calm his mind before he cried again.

Lance didn’t necessarily mind seeing Keith cry. He was a beautiful crier. He minded that Keith was hurt, of course, but seeing those tears on pale cheeks stirred something within him, and it made him want to comfort and corrupt such innocence all at once. Surprisingly, he held himself in check last night and pampered Keith with his love instead of taking him like the brute he wanted to be in that moment. “It’s cold without you here.”

“Missing me already? Could have sworn you got your fill last night.” Keith walked back over to the bed, tying robe around his waist, humming with a content sigh as the fresh fabric hugged his form. He purred as he spooned up against Lance’s back. “You were really gentle last night. I could get used to being spoiled.”

"There's no such thing as getting my fill of you.” Lance murmured and relaxed when he felt the gentle pressure of Keith’s body against his back. “I was gentle because I wanted to be and because you needed me to be.” He smiled, though he knew Keith couldn’t see it with their positioning. “You went through a lot yesterday, so I wasn’t going to strain you any more.”

“Last night I needed a lot of things. And you made sure I had everything.” Keith moved his hand around Lance’s shoulder and cupped his cheek, slowly turning his head to face him. “What do you need?” His thumb traced under the tan-pink lips. “What can I give you?”

Lance shifted his body when Keith turned his head. “I need you.” He murmured, moving himself enough to kiss Keith’s thumb, since the previous touch sent shivers down his spine. “That’s all. I need you to be with me, to be happy and healthy, to let me take care of you in ways I know how. To love me and not leave me. To trust me. Everything.”

“You have all those things. And a part of me no one else can ever own.” Keith touched the tip of his nose to Lance’s. “You’ve been though a lot because of me. You’ve seen a lot because of me. You’ve hurt a lot because of me.” The back of his fingers continued to stroke the warm fleshy cheek. 

"But I’ve been loved a lot because of you, and I’ve loved for the same reason.” Lance nuzzled his cheek against Keith’s fingers. “But the only hurt you’ve ever caused me was that slap to my cheek the first night we met, so you don’t need to worry about that. It doesn’t matter how much I go through, see, or hurt because I’ll be doing everything with you, and that’s all that I need.”

“Eh?” Keith blinked before a puff of air came out of his cheeks as he started to laugh, his forehead laying against Lance’s shoulder. “You deserved it! You thought I was a hooker!”

"I thought it was a brothel! I had no idea!” Lance pouted, but he chuckled. Hearing Keith laugh was nice. “But you thought I was infuriatingly attractive even after that, so it’s fine right?”

“Yes. Being thought of as a hooker turns me on.” Keith grinned as he lifted his head. “Certainly infuriating. But I’d me more inclined to say incomprehensibly sexy?” 

"Hey! You corrected me, and I apologized and did my best to be well behaved after that!” Lance pouted again. “And…I comprehend how sexy I am. You don’t?’

“Nope. I don’t understand how one man can be so alluring he makes it impossible for me to function on a daily basis.” Keith grinned, kissing Lance’s warm bare shoulder before he decided he enjoyed the warmth of his body to the chill of the air and cuddled back under the blanket, against his back.

"It's a natural talent." Lance grinned, but he shifted when Keith cuddled in so he could hold him against his chest. “Here. This is much better.” He pressed his lips to the top of his head.

“When do you have to leave?” 

"Whenever I get you back to the shop. I won’t be long, I don’t think.” Another kiss to the black mop and Lance settled in more. “I just need to set up some deliveries, make sure the goods get to the people who need them. I can get us probably a few days to a week of clearance time, so we’d have a head start.”

“I- I don’t want to go back.” Keith admitted in a voice softened by shame.

"Do you want to come with me?" Lance nuzzled in an attempt to comfort Keith. “It’s totally fine if you do.”

“That would be troublesome for you.” Keith curled into his chest. “ I can stay here and wait for you.”

"It wouldn’t be, and I would feel better if you were with me, but I won’t make you come if you don’t want to.” 

“You’ll have to keep me hidden the whole time. Isn’t that harder than just going in and out?” 

"Well no, you could be in the barracks while I handle business.” Lance shook his head, but he closed his eyes and held Keith closer. “It’s totally okay. Stay here if that’s better.”

“I know what I should do, and it’s not what I want to do.” Talking to Lance had become as easy as mulling options over in his own head. “Run away to England?”

“I would happily do that, or take you back to Cuba with me.” Lance smiled and kissed him. “I’ll take you anywhere.”

“Cuba too.” Keith nuzzled his nose into Lance’s chest. “Anywhere would be better. But nothing seems that bad as long as I have you like this.” Keith kissed along Lance’s sternum, his hair dragging behind him until he nestled into the crook of Lance’s neck.

“But that’s not what we will do…”

“No, but once everything is all done, whatever it is we have to do, I will take you to travel the world.” Lance rested his hand in Keith’s hair and smiled. “And we will be happy.”

“I’m happy right now.” Keith moaned with the touch of Lance’s fingers in his hair.

“Me too. But no matter what, I will do my best to keep you happy.” Lance smiled and kept playing with his hair. “If you think it’s best that you stay here, then stay here. I will come back and we will do everything else together.”

“For now, to keep things simple. I’ll stay here. Coran is making curry…”

Lance nuzzled into Keith’s hair and sighed. “Save some for me then? It’s better if I get this done and over with now.” He unwrapped his arms from his lover and groaned. “Even if I don’t want to let you go.”

“I’m know. I’m so warm and cozy.” Keith sat on his legs to let him up.

“You are.” Lance sat up and kissed him. “And I will rush back here, so I can hold you again.”

\-----

Lance sat outside his superior’s office, looking around the small, empty reception area with a twinge of trepidation. Hunk had assured him he would have everything packed and ready to go by the time Lance was done speaking with their boss. The plan was simple enough, ask for a few days to finish organizing the supplies and delivering them to the impoverished, improving the reputation of the army at the same time. They would have them delivered to Shay’s and the shop so the people could receive the items, but in the meantime they would leave, find somewhere safe to hide, and figure out the next steps. But for all that Lance convinced Hunk that this should work, he wasn’t all that confident that it would, especially listening to the angry voices he could hear through the door. 

There was a slam. Lance jumped a little and looked at the door. He had heard rumors, but he never personally witnessed his boss become a violently angry sort of man, but here it was. And now he understood why the receptionist just told him to sit before she hurried on her lunch break. The rumors were true.

Another slam. Lance winced and slowly rose to his feet. His boss had no idea he was out here, and the harsh sounds from the office seemed to get louder, so he took slow, careful steps towards the door. If this was too serious, then maybe asking about his leave wasn’t the best idea.

“The son got away, that limping sonofabitch, but we have Sam Holt in our possession.” Lance winced at his supervisor’s words. They had Sam? Why? What was going on? And Matt had to escape?

“It’s his fault the facility was compromised.” Another voice muttered. “How could you let this happen? I thought you had a guy in there?”

“We do. He’s worthless. Utterly worthless. Moron spent too much time setting up his cover with this stupid relief program that he didn’t get us any intel. What kind of idiot lets this whole thing happen under his nose? Now the whole thing is a mess, and we have to send a team to erase it all.”

Lance bit his lip and clenched his fist to keep himself from making any sound. That was him they were talking about, wasn’t it? And erase? What did that mean? What were they going to do?

“It’ll all be gone in an hour, the team has already been mobilized. A gas leak and a misfire of some tech. Easy. Done. Boom. Gone.” His supervisor’s voice started to calm, and therefore Lance had to strain to hear it.

“And your man on the inside?”

“Fuck him. Let him go up with the whole mess. We’ll send a uniform and a flag to his family and wash our hands of it.”

Lance felt his blood run cold, and he slowly backed away from the door. One. Two. Three steps. His heart was beating so loudly in his chest he was sure someone could hear it. This was bad. Bad was such an understatement. This was the worst fucking thing! 

He sprinted back to the barracks and threw open the door. “Hunk! Shop! Explosion! We have to go NOW!” He shouted into the room between gasping breaths.

“What?” The larger man stepped forward with their bags slung over his shoulder. “What are you talking about man? I didn’t hear anything, and it’s not so far away that we wouldn’t have heard it.” But he blinked at Lance’s flushed cheeks and wild eyes. “What?”

“We have to go now! I have to get Keith! You have to warn the others! They’re going to blow it all to hell.”

“What about the supplies?” Hunk stared at Lance with wide eyes. “What are you talking about? Where did you hear something like that? It doesn’t make sense!” But he moved forward, still shouldering the two bags. 

“Fuck the supplies.” Lance grabbed Hunk’s arm and looked up at him with a desperation he didn’t even know how to express. “We have to save them!”

Hunk didn’t need anything more than that. He looped the bags over one shoulder and allowed Lance to tug him out of the building. His friend’s touch felt like ice on his arm, so he pulled it away and rested a large hand on his shoulder. “Ok. Run. Go to Keith. That’s farther away than the shop, and I’ll rush there and tell them to get out. Go.”

Lance didn’t need any more permission than that. He bolted. Everything blurred around him as he dodged and weaved between people, animals, motorized bikes, anything that was in his way. He clutched at his shirt as he came to a stop in front of the okiya, panting, each beat of his heart painful as his body tried to recover from the exertion.

"Mister Soldier?" The girl that had once been Keiko…no Keith’s assistant stood next to him on the step leading into the building. “Are you okay?”

“I …I need..” He gasped and huffed. “Keith. I need.”

“Oh. He left a short while ago. Seemed hurried.” She looked at him. “I think he went back to the shop. He was with the Master.”

Lance’s head whipped up to look at the girl, his eyes wide. “O…Oh. Oh no. no no no.” He gripped his shirt again.

“Sir?”

“Thank you. Sorry. Go inside and stay there. It’s not safe out here.” Lance tried to force a smile, but tears started to slide down his cheeks, and he ignored the look of concern the child gave him as he turned and started running again. His body burned, though ice flowed through his veins. His lungs seared as they couldn’t get enough air. He sped out of an alley and onto the street. There was Hunk, only a few meters in front of him, still carrying those bags, and as Lance caught up to him, it happened.

The explosion rocked the entire street. Women screamed. Children started to cry. The loud, surprised yells of the men filled Lance’s ears. Metal clanged as it fell from the blast and littered the street with the remains of what was once the tech shop, Vol-Tron.

They were too late. 

Lance felt his body give way beneath him, but everything else went cold. The flames pouring from the building did nothing to warm him as he stared, wide-eyed, mouth open. His ears rang, drowning out all the sound of the commotion around them. Hunk was shaking him. His body was moving back and forth, but he just stared. He heard nothing. No shouts. No screams. Nothing from Hunk despite the shaking. It was all silent. Gone. All that was left was the flame that destroyed everything. 

“Come on! We have to go!”A familiar voice cried down the street combined with a puttering and popping. A monster of a metallic creature sped down the thoroughfare. Pidge sat behind the steering wheel, an elated grin splitting her sprite like features as she hopped on the seat. 

The back was shaped like a Western covered wagon with a green tarp flapping and twisting about its end. A lithe figure hung to the curved frame, hugging the bar to his body as he reached his hand out. Keith.

“Come on! Hunk grab him and take my hand!”

Hunk didn’t even question any of it as he tossed the two bags into the moving vehicle and hoisted Lance over his shoulder. He ran and grabbed Keith’s hand, wincing a little at the speed he had to hit to be able to do that, and he just hoped Keith could keep a good grip. “Get him inside first!”

“Lance!” Keith yelled, ducking as bullets started to plink off the motorized wagon. “Take my hand!” 

Hunk managed to grab the same bar Keith was holding. He shoved Lance forward like a rag doll, and the thinner man moved accordingly. “He can’t hear you! Just pull him inside! I have a good hold, so don’t worry about me!” He pushed Lance again until most of his body was in the vehicle before he pulled himself up, so he no longer had to try to run, his feet up on the bumper.

Keith took Lance up by his arms, tossing the long body over himself. They fell back hard against the wood paneled flooring with a wind knocking ‘oof’. He clutched Lance. His arms squeezing the lanky body until he heard more shots, he rolled his body over him. “Shit. Jin that bastard!”

Hunk managed to pull himself up and inside the wagon, grunting when he landed on the bags. He panted, but he hit Lance hard on one of his legs, as it was sticking out from under Keith. “Snap out of it man!”

Lance groaned at the movement and hit, but his eyes continued to stare out at nothing until Hunk hit him a second time. That snapped him out of it, and he started to yell at the larger man before he saw Keith over him, and his eyes widened. He was alive? “What the fuck?” Before he could get an answer, he heard a bullet rip through the tarp over the back of the wagon. Without thinking, he yanked Keith down as much as he could, a slight snarl in his voice. “If you’re getting shot at, stay down!”

Keith squawked when those arms tossed him down, his face pressed into Lance’s shoulder. “I’m protecting you!” He shouted, their bodies jumping with a high jerk of the car. 

“I don’t need you to protect me from that, idiot! I need you to not get shot after I just thought you were in an explosion and died!”

“How about one of you protect me!!” Pidge screamed from the front. Metal plinked off metal as the jerking pile of scrap continued to get riddled with bullets. 

“Shit!” Keith snapped his attention out the flapping fabric arch, his jaw dropping. “Crawlers!!”

“Are you serious!” Pidge screamed back. “What the heck did you do!?”

“We’re popular!” Keith watched in terror and awe as a group of four man-mounted machines glided over the Kyoto roof tops. Clay shingles broke under the clawed feet of each arachnidian appendage, the metallic finish catching the midmorning light and glinted back at them in brassy grotesque radiance. Keith hated the crawlers. Hated their creepy spidery appearance with every last fiber of his body. Even at the size of two normal humans and baring the weight of a mounted operator, the god-awful contraptions moved with the agility of their archetypal monsters. Small turrets, mounted on each side of a center pulpit, left the riders protected and strategically able to drive and shoot four-hundred rounds a second at the same time.

“Nordenfelts?” Keith didn’t hide the admiration in his voice as he named the weapon without a bat of an eye.

“Are you serious? How much more are they going to throw at us? Hunk snorted and looked around the bed of the truck before he saw a small box of screws wedged into the corner. He grabbed a handful of them and threw them out of the back, scattering them on the street as they made their escape. “That should slow down anyone driving after us, but what about those?” He nodded up to the spider-like creatures. 

“Guns.” Lance muttered from under Keith. “You put them in the bags didn’t you? Get them. Grab one and go up with Pidge.”

Hunk nodded and scrambled to pull one of the bags open, pulling out Lance’s rifle and a couple of pistols. “You know how to shoot?” He looked at Keith and held the rifle out. “You either gotta take the driver out or somehow hit the fuel line. If you can’t, get Lance steady so he can.”

“I’m not good with those!” Keith glared at the gun, his head turning away in resolution.

“I’m fine without!” Keith stretched his body over Lance. “Just take out the driver right?” He reached his fingers out in front him, beads of sweat forming on his brow, and the smallest of tremors started to shake his body while a reflective cat like sheen glinted in his eyes.

Flame formed on his tips and amassed toward the right index finger. Keith held his hand out, trying to steady his wrist with his left. Closing one eye, he took aim and fired with a light jerk of his arm. And completely missed the target. Somewhere in the distance a vender screamed as his stall exploded into flame. 

“Shit!”

Lance groaned and pulled himself out from under Keith, taking the rifle from Hunk and allowing the other man to climb up front to protect Pidge. “If you’re not good with these, how do you expect to mimic them?” He put his gun down and pressed himself against Keith’s back, reaching around him and holding his hands. “Both eyes open. You need all of your vison.” He moved Keith’s arms as though aiming at one of the machines. “The shields might block your fire, but the fuel lines won’t be able to withstand the heat.” He aimed the other man’s hands just slightly under one of the small turrets. “See that green tube? There.”

“What the hell are you-“ Keith swallowed back his complaint when Lance crawled on top of him, his weight pressing the smaller man down and stifling his breath. “Green tube?” He blinked, side eyeing Lance before focusing forward and letting him manipulate his arms. “There?” He repeated back rhetorically as he gulped down another breath and fired. 

A ball of fire the size of a stone sped through the air and slapped up against the side of the metal spider as it leaped through the air, igniting into a thunderous roar and a shower of smoldering scrap and ash. The rider falling to the ground and covering his head as he rolled out of the way. “I did it!” Keith shot his head up in excitement, smacking it against the bottom of Lance’s jaw.

Lance was about to cheer for Keith when that hard head whacked him in the chin, and he yelped, rolling off Keith and laying to the side of him. “Fuck!” He cursed and rubbed his jaw. “All right hard head. Do the same thing and get another one.” He tried to open and close his mouth a bit as if that would get the pain to subside, but he quickly grabbed his rifle and moved to the side of the canvas-covered truck, using his knife to cut some more of the cloth that had already been torn by a bullet. He caught a glimpse of another one of those spider machines, settling himself and taking steady breaths as he aimed. “Hunk!” He shouted. “Can you distract the one on the left so he turns enough for me to get the bastard?”

“On it!” Hunk’s voice called as more shots were fired and the crawler rushed forward, turning just enough. Lance aimed and focused. Slow breaths. Steady arms. Pow. A single bullet hit the operator just above the ear, sending the whole machine toppling to the empty street below, the sound of metal and gunfire echoing as the creature exploded.

Shaking off the growing headache, Keith rolled to the opposite side of the truck bed. He cast a smirk at Lance as he caught his breath. He had to admit, Lance looked sexy when he took command, and it brought an excited flutter to his chest.

His appreciation only lasted a short second. Another round of bullets ricocheted off the inner framing, shredding holes into the roof. “Assholes!” The long-haired man snarled and peeked through a tear in time so see a vine whip out and toss a crawler operator out of his safety and then rip through the metal legs leaving creature crushed and twitching. Pidge was a master at her craft. 

One more to go, and Keith looked around frantic to find it, flame ready to fire. “Where-“ Keith didn’t ponder for long as a creaking spider monstrosity crashed through the covered wagon top. He stared down the quad barreled rapid-fire gun, getting an unwanted close-up inspection of the mechanism. 

Keith didn’t think, his body moved on its own. The world slowed down to a slow viscous fluidity. Keith found his pace within, it not allowing for the slightest jerk of hesitation. In one sweep of his arm, he pushed the flame inside the barrel of the gun, as fire sparked to unleash the next round into his chest. His legs curled around, hooking the creature with inhuman strength. He dislodged the clawed feet from the floor, destabilizing it. His other leg arched around and kicked toward the open flaps. He pushed, sending it and himself out the door. 

Time returned to normal as bullets screamed through air followed by an another explosion. Keith slammed hard against the rebar. His hands twisting into the shredded tarp and gripping the rope tied about wrist, unsure of when he’d even had the time to do it, but knowing it was it kept him from joining the flaming mass behind him. He looked over his shoulder as he heard the screams and the saw the struggling body of his attacker twisting and gasping inside the inferno. Charred flesh reaching out and gripping his throat as his lungs fell in on themselves. Keith watched, horrified, shock slacking his fingers on the tarp.

Lance didn’t even think as he dropped his gun and dove towards Keith, arm out, grabbing his hand as his grip loosened. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t hear anything beyond the ringing of his ears, or that his leg was bleeding from getting pegged by the machine Keith had expelled moments before. All that mattered was pulling the smaller man to safety, and he grunted as he did.

Keith clutched first his hand then crawled up to the arm, dragging into vehicle, clinging to Lance’s back with clawed trembling hands. Catching his breath, he panted out. “I… I….” Keith shook his head to clear it. “Are you okay?”

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and held him close, doing his best to keep steady so Keith could calm down. “Yes and no. Yes because you’re still here with me, even though that was really scary and dangerous, no because that thing got my leg.” He glanced down at the blood that had soaked his pants. 

“You were pretty damn slick.” Keith paused before he started laughing into Lance’s arm. “Nicked leg and everything.” He forced a calm into his voice.

“Oh you think so? How slick?” Lance grinned, holding him and closing his eyes. “It kinda hurt though.”

Keith cupped the back of Lance’s head for a hard deep kiss as his other hand slipped up his chest. He was fine. He was okay.“We’re not camping out with the others tonight. That’s how slick.”

“Oh yeah?” Lance half moaned into the kiss and grinned. “So beating me up and seeing me all bloody turns you on?” He winced slightly when he had to shift for that kiss. “My leg feels a little worse.”

“Sit down.” Keith furrowed and lead the man down to the floor. With delicate coaxing he stretched the leg out. “It doesn’t look too deep, but it is wide.” Keith looked around himself and grabbed a small canteen. He gazed about again and sneered with dissatisfaction, grabbing his own sleeve, he tore it off. Using the canteen he soaked the strip then pressed it against the wound with a sloping sound. 

“Pull the water in. Like you did for me. Use it to close the wound.”

Lance hissed when the water hit his wound, but he looked up at Keith helplessly. “I…don’t know if I can do that. I mean, that was a way different situation and I was desperate to save you. I don’t know how I did it. Pidge had to walk me through it.”

“Close your eyes and concentrate. Listen to the lion inside of you. Blue is gentle and kind. It should guide you.”

“Okay.” Lance closed his eyes and focused on tuning out the sounds of the truck. The whirring of the engine, Hunk and Pidge’s voices, Keith’s breathing. All of it faded the more he concentrated. The lion on his arm started to chill, but it was nothing painful like it had been a few times before. It felt more like the soothing water of a calm lake at the beginning of spring. Gentle waves pulsed in his blood. He focused on where the water was trying to escape him, the river that flowed to his leg. He called for it, urging it back to the serenity of the larger body. And as he did, he could feel something happening. Less water was trying to escape him. Slower trickles until the breach had been sealed, and everything was whole once more. 

With trepidation, Keith moved pale fingers to lift the cloth from Lance’s leg, the fabric completely dry. “Wow.” He ran his thumb over the new flesh. “That’s amazing.”

When Lance felt the touches to his leg, his eyes opened and he panted a bit, as if the snap back to reality knocked the wind out of him. “I…I did it?”

“Perfectly.” Keith grinned and leaned himself against Lance’s chest, his own skin clammy and chilled like a autumn night around a dying fire.

Lance shifted and held Keith close. “You’re cold…” He sighed and glanced around before seeing a tattered piece of the canvas tarp, and he pulled it up to wrap around Keith. “Here, this should help.”

“Yeah. He’s still recovering. The idiot pushed himself too hard. I’m shocked he’s only cold.” Pidge settled herself down against a corner of the truck bed, her hand holding a leaf to her arm, her shirt and overalls stained a deep soaking red. “Hunk is driving. We should meet with the others soon.” 

Lance blinked and looked at her before he carefully laid Keith back so he could rest. “Let me help you. Where did they get you?” His brows furrowed. 

“Pidge!” Keith fought against Lance laying him back. 

“Cool it. I’m fine. Just got me a little bit. Neither of you are in the best condition to be worrying about me.” She showed her bandage of flora. “Besides, I got it under control. When we get with the others, you can fuss over me as much as you want.”

“Is the bullet still in there? At least let me get it out of it is, so you’ll heal faster.” Lance sighed and rested his hand on Keith’s forehead.

“If it will make you feel better. Here.” Pidge moved closer to them, lifting the bandage. “I think there’s an exit wound.”

Keith’s brows furrowed as he got up on his elbows. “You should be more careful!”

“Hey pot, lay off the kettle… I’ll start listening to you when it stops sounding hypocritical.” 

“I’m sure you were as careful as you could be given the situation.” Lance sighed and carefully checked Pidge’s wound, frowning a bit. He checked the back of her shoulder too. “Yeah, it looks like it went through.” He got the bandage settled again and tried to concentrate as he did before, but the connection was much weaker, and he could barely sense anything more than a gentle tug. “This…might hurt.” He rested his hands on either side of her shoulder and focused, gritting his teeth, sweat beading on his brow, but he made the connection. He panted as he focused on slowing the water and damming up the leaks. “I…I can’t heal it just yet, but the bleeding stopped.” He managed between breaths. 

“That’s more than enough.” Pidge patted Lance’s hand. “Take a breather. Hunk is driving and we’re far enough out of the city now.”

"Yeah." Lance nodded and crawled back to Keith’s side, curling against him as though he could warm him even though neither of them had much energy. 

Keith turned on his side when Lance came around him, his face hiding in his arm as his other hand clutched the end of his jacket pocket to himself. During Pidge’s amateur exam, Keith couldn’t even force himself to watch. Fixated instead on the object he held tight and hidden. Too much. Too much all at once. The sharp edges he pressed his hand into, pained him as much as calmed him.

Lance blinked a little and looked at Keith, brows furrowed. “Keith? Are you hurt?” Why did he look like he was about to cry? 

“I’m fine.” Keith said shorter than he meant. 

“Then why don’t you sound fine?” Lance sighed and curled closer to him. “What is it?”

Keith curled in tighter, wrapping his body around his coat pocket. “I didn’t want to see her hurt.” 

“I know…” Lance sighed. “But is that all that’s wrong?”

Keith managed to get smaller. “You should be mad at me.”

“I am still a little mad at you, but what good is it to dwell on that now after everything that happened?” Lance sighed and sat up, looking down at him.

When Lance moved, so did Keith yet he still held the object so hard it turned his knuckles white and started to break his skin.

Lance reached down and touched Keith’s hand. “What are you hiding, Keith?”

“N-nothing.” He pulled his hand in closer to his chest. 

Lance frowned and grabbed his hand. “Nothing? It’s very obviously something. So you’re lying to me now? Fine.” He let go of him and turned his head to the side, crossing his arms and huffing. Sure, he knew he was being a brat, but Keith was the one who promised not to keep things from him anymore.

The silence stretched, and it was drowning Keith until he couldn’t take it anymore and he lobbed the object over to Lance. It landed with a heavy clunk on the base boards. “Fine. Take it. It blew past my head when the building went up. Found it stuck in the mortar of Aiko’s store.” He turned his head to the opening, watching the cityscape deplete down into scattered and sparse homes.

Lance looked down at the singed octagonal object. The red paint was bubbled a little, and he recognized it as the gas cover from the bike. He carefully reached out for it, and though it was cool, it almost felt like it could burn his hand. Etched into the paint was a small K + L that looked like it had been scratched in with a pin once the paint had dried.

If he had been angry with Keith for hiding something, it faded almost immediately, and Lance sighed. He said nothing and scooted back to Keith’s side, pulling him into his arms. “Idiot. When did you get to be this sentimental? I know you lost everything. I know you’re upset because your home is gone. I know that. I shouldn’t be so angry with you for hiding something from me, but I’m with you. We’re in the rest of this together. All of us. And whenever all of this is over, I will rebuild you a house. I will get you a bike. Anything you want, I will get it for you. I will find magazines, and pictures. I will find a kimono. Anything to make you feel better.”

Keith fell boneless into Lance’s arms, his face pressed half way between his stomach and his chest. “The kimono is at Coran’s.” His voice came out soft and so tired, not just physically. “I don’t need you to buy me those things. I just…it’s not just the bike, it’s…” How did Keith convey what he felt? The bike meant a lot of things to Keith, but the time spent working on it with Lance he’d never get back. Forget sentimental, Keith wondered when he started getting emotional and he knew the answer as soon as the question formed. The idiot clinging to him now, he did it to him. 

Lance took away the places he had to hide and filled them with everything he was. His laugh. His grin. His scent. His everything, and Keith latched on to every last part of Lance he could find to the point where it hurt to hold on, and letting go would destroy him. So he gladly took the pain, gladly felt every tear as it leaked out from his eyes, and gladly felt every last ounce of misery it brought him. He never wanted to go back to being without it.

“I didn’t lose everything.” He whispered, his voice broken by Lance’s shirt.

Lance shifted so he could hold Keith better, one hand rubbing his back while the other rested on his head, fingers twisting a little into his hair. “Well, whatever it is, whatever you can’t voice right now, I’ll do anything to fix it.” He whispered and closed his eyes. Guilt started to fill him, but he pushed it down in an attempt to keep Keith from having to worry about anything more than what he was already dealing with. Keith needed his comfort right now. He could worry about his own feelings later. 

“I fell in love with you over the hood of the bike.” Keith’s voice cracked, clear violet eyes looking up at Lance even as they lined with crystalline tears. 

Lance’s breath shuddered as he looked down at Keith. Those tears made him want to do all sorts of things to Keith to make the pain go away. Again. He swallowed down the urge and nodded a little, the hand on his hair moving to gently brush those tears away from heated cheeks. “I know. And the bike is gone, so it feels terrible, but it didn’t take away your love for me, right? And it didn’t take away my love for you. We’ll get through this. We’ll fall in love a thousand times over. So, yeah, it sucks right now, but I’ll make it okay in the end.”

“How, with everything going on, how can you still sound so sure?” Keith curled in a little closer, and there was something else in those eyes beside tears. Something fading, something which made Keith who he was. The spark of perseverance. The part driving him forward no matter what happened. The air about him telling others he was a fighter seemed thinned. The spark nothing more than a dying flicker, fixed by the reflection of Pidge’s wounded resting body over Lance’s shoulder. Everyone had a breaking point, and Keith finally found his. One more push, one more thing to literally blow up in his face and the creature before Lance could shatter like a delicate crystal.

"Because of you." Lance kept stroking Keith's cheek, his eyes searching the amethysts before him before he grabbed his chin and forced him to focus on him and not on the sleeping girl behind him. “Because you are my reason to be so sure. Because to me, it doesn’t matter if we have to run far away from what we know because we’re together. You are the reason I wake up in the morning. You are the reason I went against the army when they asked me to gather information. As long as I have you, I can do anything.”

“Sounds like a lot of trouble. Has anything good happened to you since you met me?” Keith stared back into those clear ocean blues. Longing to feel the waves under him, the salty air on his face. The sense of careless freedom. 

“Every kiss you’ve given me was good. Every touch. Every smile, and laugh. You’ve freed me from the army, who was willing to sacrifice me without a second thought. You’ve given me love. You’ve given me warmth I never knew I could feel. The tattoo is pretty cool, too, and I didn’t even have to deal with needles.” He managed a little smile. 

Keith managed a teary eyed chuckle, sniffing a little more as he wiped them on his sleeve. “And the sex is good?”

"No, it's not good." Lance shook his head a little, but then he leaned in and kissed his cheek, whispering. “It’s amazing.”

“Are you thinking about it right now?”

"I have been since you looked at me with those tears in your eyes.” Lance nuzzled Keith’s cheeks with his lips. “But I need to control myself. Pidge is here, and Hunk is up front. I’m still a little angry, and I don’t think angry public sex is something we should be having right now anyway. Maybe later, though.”

“Pervert. A yes would have been fine.” Keith smirked and leaned up so his forehead pressed against his. “Can you have sex while being mad at someone? Seems counterproductive.”

"Isn’t that one of the best ways to get out the anger without hurting each other?” Lance chuckled softly and held him closer. “Plus, I bet I could have sex with you no matter how I’m feeling.”

“Eh? Really?” Keith blinked. “Why? How?” 

"I love you, and you're sexy as hell."

“Ew. You guys are making me wish the bastard who shot me had better aim.” Pidge grumbled from the corner.

Keith blinked and laughed a little. “I-I think she’ll be fine.”

“Of course she will.” Lance shook his head slightly. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.”

“No regrets then?” Keith nuzzled his nose into Lance’s.

“The only thing I regret is making you feel bad.” Lance nuzzled into the top of his hair. 

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for running to my rescue.” 

“Thank you for not being dead.” Lance sighed and held him closer.

“Well yours is way more heroic sounding.”

“But you didn’t fail at yours. I failed at mine.”

“You didn’t fail at anything. Everyone is alive, and I’m with you. I’m glad you were there for us to pick up!” Keith sat up and blinked. “If you hadn’t been there…” the idea dawned on Keith like a weight pushing him back into Lance’s chest to hug him harder. 

Lance blinked a little and held him just that much closer. “What is it?” His brows furrowed. “What do you think would have happened?”

“You would have been left behind. Left with them. I’m not strong enough to take on an army to save you. But I would have tried.”

“I would have found my way to you. But we don’t have to worry about that now, right? We all made it.” Lance kissed the top of Keith’s head, and he smiled.

“You always do seem to find me when I need you most. Don’t you?”

"Do I? Am I finding you or is that just because I’m clingy?”

“You have. Every time I’ve needed you, since the day I met you.”

“So yes. I am clingy.” Lance chuckled and held him a little closer. “Clingy and exhausted. We should rest a little while Hunk gets us where we need to be.”

Keith curled his body up long side Lance, lowering his head to his shoulder. “All right. I’ll rest here. Okay?”

“Yes.” Lance nodded a little before he rested his cheek against the top of Keith’s head. “Rest. You did a lot today.”

“You too.” Keith cuddled in, wrapping the torn tarp around Lance and himself.

"We all did." Lance murmured rubbing Keith’s back a little.

“Mmm…” Keith adjusted one more time, his head resting on Lance’s lap, sleepy violet eyes looking up at him, head turned toward his stomach.

Lance offered him a slight smile, hoping that Keith could at least trust him enough to protect him while he slept. “Shhh. Sleep.”

“Thank you.” Keith said in a sleep whisper as he closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Culture Notes:
> 
> Nordenfelts - Not a language note but a history note. The Nordenfelt gun was a multiple barrel organ gun that had a row of up to twelve barrels. It was fired by pulling a lever back and forth and ammunition was gravity fed through chutes for each barrel. It was produced in a number of different calibres from rifle up to 25 mm (1 inch). Larger calibres were also used, but for these calibres the design simply permitted rapid manual loading rather than true automatic fire. A ten-barrelled version of the weapon, firing rifle calibre cartridges fired 3,000 rounds of ammunition in 3 minutes and 3 seconds without stoppage or failure.(Wikipedia explains it better than I can)


	18. Suisen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Rated R for suggestive language/violence~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Daffodil** _Suisen 水仙_ \- Respect 
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)

Lance sat on the root of a rather old tree, his back against the trunk as he looked out at the mountain forest that surrounded their hideaway. The tree cover was thick enough to obscure the small shrine, though it did let in the occasional stream of sunlight, so it didn’t feel entirely too desolate. The shrine itself almost blended in with the trees. The stone walkway was so old it looked like the forest had reclaimed it, grass between the stones, moss on the unused areas. The wooden beams and tiled roofs were such a woody brown that sometimes he couldn’t be sure what he was looking at. And even when hit by sunlight, the shrine looked like it was meant to be a part of the mountain. The leaves seemed to protect it. The sun seemed to revere it. Everything here was natural and intentional, and it was just the kind of calming place they needed to hide in.

The monk that took care of the shrine was kind, one of Coran’s old friends, of course. He met them in the town below the mountain, helped them get rid of the trucks, and led them up the to the shrine, leaving no trace of their hike. It didn’t matter that he was escorting the most exotic group of misfits. That Allura, Lance, and Hunk had dark skin. That Pidge groaned as Hunk carried her semi-conscious form up the mountain. That Shiro’s machine arm seemed to twitch every time Allura took a misstep that she immediately corrected with Shay’s assistance. That Lance clutched Keith’s hand the entire way up. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that Coran’s friends needed help and sanctuary, and the monk was happy to oblige.

When they arrived, Lance immediately tended to Pidge and healed the rest of her wound. She woke during it, and she protested, insisting she could do it herself, but the poor girl was exhausted, and quickly lost the spark that fueled her argument. She gruffly thanked Lance and went back to sleep. Shay and Allura promised to keep an eye on her, mostly because the Monk started ushering the men out of the room, telling them to go somewhere else for a few hours. It might also have been because Keith had been pacing the entire time, and they were trying to reassure him more than anyone else.

And in that moment, Lance slipped away and came out here, settling at the base of the old tree, hugging his knees to his chest. He was spent. Physically, mentally, emotionally. He couldn’t bear to burden anyone else with his feelings right now. Not when everyone was in the same state. And so he did what he always did back home. He found a tree, he sat under it and watched the world around him. And while he wasn’t on a beach with the soothing sounds of the ocean helping him steady his breathing, the gentle chirping of birds, and the soft swaying of branches helped enough to keep his head from spinning. He tilted his head back against the trunk and closed his eyes. He was going to have to be the one who broke the news to everyone about Sam. He needed to be strong. He needed to be brave. He just wasn’t sure he knew how to be anything other than scared.

“Here.” A polished round cup appeared in front of Lance’s face. Steam swirled in the brisk air, bringing with it the gentle sweet scent of green tea. “He makes his own Gyokuro here. It’s a bit sweeter than basic sencha.” Keith sat down on the large root beside him, smelling of the same clove and incense burning at Pidge’s bedside.

Lance’s eyes slowly opened at the sound of Keith’s voice. He unwrapped his arms from around his knees and took the hot cup, holding it close to his face and breathing in the scented steam. It distracted him from the spices that clung to the other man. “Thank you.” His voice was quiet. “You should stay in there if you’re that worried.”

“Nah. She’ll be fine.” Keith leaned his shoulder into Lance. “She threatened my first born child in every reality I didn’t end up queer if I didn’t get out of there and stop hovering.” Keith was hunting for a distraction. The last place he wanted to be was in his own mind.

“Oh.” Normally Lance would smile at Pidge’s reaction, and he knew he should try to force one, but he couldn’t do it. Instead, he used the cup of tea as a cover, sipping the hot liquid and half closing his eyes as the steam reached his face. “Sounds about right.” He shook his head a little. Another sip. “It’s chilly out here, though, so you can go inside if you want. I don’t want you to feel obligated to sit with me.”

“Hmm? You know what’s great about being me?” Keith wrapped a blanket around them, curling up to him and heat started to gently pulse off the man’s body.

“Everything.” Lance looked at him before he shifted so Keith could sit more comfortably against him.

“I was going to say, ‘I’m a heater,’ but that works too.” Keith nudged his way under Lance’s arm, his head against the other’s chest. “How’s your leg?”

“My leg is good. It took way more to heal Pidge. She’s okay right? She must be if she was threatening you.” Lance finished the tea and held the cup a little longer, even if the heat had long since dissipated.

“If she can yell like that, she’ll be fine. Thanks to you.” Keith slipped his fingers just inside Lance’s shirt, moving them in loving circles.

Lance nodded and allowed the other man to soothe him, enjoying the warmth of Keith’s fingers soaking into his skin. “Good. Is Coran going to look for Matt and get him here, too?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about much anything. I do know he’s heading back to the city in the morning.” He sighed, enjoying how perfectly his body fit into Lance’s. Keith closed his eyes; fire and charred flesh seared his vision until he pulled himself in tighter, feeling every breath his lover made.

“Oh.” Lance sighed and shifted the cup in his hands, looping his arm around Keith’s shoulder when he curled in closer like that. “I should ask him, then.”

“Right now?” Keith titled his head up to look into Lance’s face. His eyes danced over him, memorizing and connecting the dots of very freckle.

“No, but before he leaves.” Lance sighed and gave up trying to hide his exhaustion. His eyes half-closed, his lips downturned. He just didn’t have the energy to do much of anything at the moment.

“Relax. You spent a lot of energy.” Keith didn’t bother asking if Lance wanted to go inside, he seemed like he wanted nothing more than to stay right where he was.

“I know. I tried. I thought if I came out here, I could get my mind to settle down, but it won’t.“ Another sigh escaped Lance’s lips and he turned his head a little, glancing at the shrine. “I’m sorry.”

“Should I leave you alone?”

“No. I don’t want that. I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to sit with me if you didn’t want to.” Lance looked down at Keith and held him a little closer. “I just feel like all of this is my fault.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to be right here?” Keith adjusted one more time, laying more of his body across Lance. “This isn’t your fault. If anything we are alive because you’re here.” The new position was embarrassing and made Keith settle in a cradled position. The gesture was submissive and gentle, quietly telling Lance even if no one else proclaimed their need of him, Keith always would.

“You honestly believe that, and not that they came after you because of me?” Lance kept his eyes on Keith. “I’m not sure everyone else is going to trust me as much as you do. I’m not sure I deserve it.”

“Who cares about anyone else? If they don’t see it now, they will eventually.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s shoulder. “Or I’ll punch’em until they do.”

A strained chuckle passed Lance’s lips. It was a little, but it was something, and there was a weight that lifted from his shoulders. He curled over Keith and looked down at him. “Well, I definitely don’t deserve you.”

Keith smiled and leaned up to lick the tip of Lance’s nose. “You deserve more than me. But I’m glad I have you.”

“Well, I don’t want anyone but you.” Lance moved his face enough to kiss Keith after the lick to his nose. “Ever.”

“Well, you’d have to go through the trouble of teaching someone else all the perverted things you like. It sounds exhausting.” Keith teased.

Lance blinked, and for a moment, his insecurity flashed in his eyes, but he shook his head a little to clear the thoughts. Keith wasn’t calling him a pervert. He wasn’t saying anything negative about him. He needed to get better at understanding that. “Being with you is never exhausting.”

Keith hugged him closer, feeling guilty for his harmless tease. “And I’m far more perverted.” He kissed where could. “And you deal with every one of my hang-ups like they are the most natural thing. You’re perfect and heroic and generous and kind and gentle and strong and have good aim and –“ his list of Lance’s traits continued.

“I’d say we’re both equally into that, so I wouldn’t call it perverted.” Lance’s lips twitched into what could have been the start of a smile. “I love you, and so it feels good to hear you say all those nice things about me, but please remember that the only reason I’m any good is because you love me. That’s what gets me through each day.”

“Well that’s a bit heady.” Keith blushed, turning his head into Lance’s chest. 

“Should I love you less or more quietly then?” Lance shifted against the tree a little, since leaning back against the rough bark for so long was becoming slightly uncomfortable, but not so uncomfortable that he needed to get up yet.

“Whatever you need to do.” Keith closed his eyes and listened to the wind rustling the budding branches and the rhythmic thumping of Lance’s heart.

“You’re supposed to say no.” Lance sighed and closed his eyes. “So it’s too much for you?”

Keith smirked eyes still closed. “No, I just know it’s impossible for you to do either of those things.”

“But…” Lance cut himself off to keep from voicing anything negative. He knew he was overtired and stressed, and that was causing him to think the worst. He knew he should focus on the good, so he would try. “Okay. But I will stop if you hate it.”

“How could I?”

“Easily. I am annoying sometimes.” Lance opened his eyes and stared up at the canopy of leaves. They moved without a care, caressed by the calming breeze. He was jealous of such a simple thing.

“You love me. That’s not annoying.” Keith reached his hand up and guided Lance’s face back down to him. Placing the gentlest of kisses to his lips Keith smiled. “To me you’re perfect.”

That was it. Lance looked at Keith and couldn’t stop the tears that just slid down his cheeks. The day’s events, his emotions, his stressors, all of it just coming out in thin lines that dripped off his chin. “You’re too amazing. You always think nice things about me when I don’t deserve it.” A sniffle escaped, and he tried to bow his head to hide, but he also didn’t pull away from Keith’s hand.

“Hey, hey, what’s this?” Keith sat up. Dragging his fingers along Lance’s cheek and pushing them into his hair. “I’m not amazing. I’m just being honest. You’ve done so much, you need to see that in yourself. You’re strong, you’re smart, you make people laugh and set them at ease.”

“I haven’t done anything that deserves you being that nice to me after everything.” Lance sniffled again and leaned into Keith a bit, trying to selfishly find comfort in the fingers in his hair, even if he didn’t think he deserved it.

“You saved my life.” Keith showed Lance the small oval scar down the center of his arm just below his elbow. “I think that means you deserve everything I can give you.”

Lance rested his hand on that scar and he closed his eyes. “I was too stubborn to let you leave me. I was selfish.”

“I’m glad you were. But stop thinking so hard, just rest. It’s not going to get any easier from here.” Keith moved again, his legs straddling to either side of Lance’s waist, sitting tall and touching his nose to his. “Rest. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” This is what he needed. The warmth. The closeness. 

“If it were that easy, I would have done it already.” Lance looked up at Keith. “Please don’t ask me to rest if you’re not going to.”

“I will. Are you warm enough here?” Keith laid his head on Lance’s shoulder, his fingers twirling in his hair as he started to hum the slow soft tune of “Sakura.”

“I’m warm with you.” Lance’s eyes began to close, but they opened again as he tensed. “It..it’s safer inside.” His arms trembled as they wrapped around Keith. “Safer…”

“If you feel like moving, we can go inside.”

“I’ll move.” Lance slowly uncurled his arms and looked at Keith, tears threatening to fall from his eyes again. “I need to keep you safe.”

“I’ll be safe. This is the safest place for us to be.” Keith stood up and touched his cheek.

Lance got to his feet and took his other hand. “Yeah, I know.” He glanced at him and leaned into the touch at his cheek. “I’m sorry I’m being strange right now. I’m a mess.”

“You’ve been through a lot. We’re all a mess right now.” Keith flickered his eyes up to Lance’s, the dying light filtering through the trees and glittered in his eyes. Violet and gold dancing over each other in royal brilliance.

“I know, which is why I feel ridiculous for being like this. I’m supposed to be the happy optimistic one right?” Lance clutched Keith’s hand and looked at him, brows furrowing. “Keith, I…”

“I make a habit out of not trusting people who smile all the time. They tend to have the most to hide.” Keith squeezed Lance’s hand. “What is it?”

Lance felt the lump form in his throat. His eyes began to water again as he tried to find the words. He squeezed Keith’s hand and looked at him, desperate for some form of affirmation. “I have something I have to say to everyone, but I think it’ll only cause them to be angry with me, so please don’t hate me okay?”

“Lance?” Gripping Lance’s shoulders, Keith jerked him into a tight squeezing hug. “Don’t ever worry about that.”

“I’m trying not to, but there’s this tiny little voice in the back of my head that keeps reminding me that I’m the easiest to get rid of if you have to.” He sighed and leaned against him. “It tells me how useless I am. It tells me that I should be blamed for everything that happened. The only time it’s relatively quiet is when you’re around. At least then it just tries to convince me I’m not good enough for you and you’ll find better. That’s a little easier to deal with because I know you love me.” 

“Idiot.” Keith cupped the back of Lance’s head and knocked his forehead against his own.

Lance nodded a little. “Yeah, I am.” He managed a slight smile. “But you love me.”

“Insanely.”

“Is that a good thing? It doesn’t sound it.”

“It sounds like you worry too much. Just go with it for now and strike my feelings for you from the list of concerns clogging up your brain.” 

“That’s the only thing I’m not concerned about.” Lance pouted a little. “But we should go inside.”

“Then know it won’t change, no matter what happens in that room.” Keith nodded his head towards the shrine, then gripped his arm, pulling Lance flush up against his body. He forced his head down with a finger under his chin. With a slow gentle grind he pressed their lips together. The kiss was designed to smolder and sear, made hotter by the deliberate pace. When Keith pulled away he smiled, sensual and knowing. “In case you forget. Remember that.”

Lance’s eyes widened, and he just stammered for a response. His cheeks flushed all the way to his ears. “Keith…” He grabbed the smaller man and pulled him in for another one of those kisses. “Unfair,” he whispered, his lips still against Keith’s.

Kissing and getting kissed had two very distinct difference. When kissing someone there’s a sense of control. The sense of what kind of kiss it would be, how long it would go, and the feelings conveyed. While being kissed, the person became the one receiving all those sensations, each one a gift with ribbons running through the whole of a body. Silk tendrils gliding down, curling toes and clutching fingers until the delicate embrace becomes the strength they depend on. Then it’s gone. The absence leaving pining for the fortitude to walk on fawnish legs.

“If I’m unfair,” Keith breathed with a half-lidded gaze. “That was a sneak attack.”

“You had to have known I was going to kiss you back.” Lance’s face was still red, but there was a ghost of a grin on his lips as he held Keith against his chest. “You started it.” Another kiss, this one more chaste and simple. This was what he needed, though he didn’t know how to voice it. So he would just keep kissing Keith as long as the smaller man would let him.

“Now you’ll have to think about finishing it for the rest of the night.” Keith kissed back when could, letting Lance in to clear his mind. He’d do anything for this man. 

“I usually do anyway.” Lance winked as he pulled back from the kissing. He held Keith a moment longer before he took his hand and started to lead Keith back to the shrine, interlocking their fingers.

“Because you’re a pervert.” Keith sighed, taking the first set of steps and through the heavy wooden grated doors of the temple. In an instant he smelled all the aromas inside the small 17 by 12 foot area. The single room had a raised tatami floor and while each person had enough space for their own futon the conditions were cramped. A small cooking pot with a bubbling brown clay kettle sat in the center of the room, and beside it the covetous Gyokuro. The thin needle like green leaves laying in perfect serving piles centered inside unfolded filters.

Keith sat down on an open futon, the one closest to Pidge and thus Allura. He nodded his head at Shiro and smiled pleasantly at the dark-skinned woman beside him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her. She was nice, regal, bared herself as member of royalty might but Keith didn’t know her. 

Lance hesitated for what felt like several minutes but was probably only ten seconds before he sat down next to Keith and looked at the others. His shoulders slumped and his breathing started to speed up a little as the voice inside his head told him everyone would hate him for what he had to say. It was his fault. He should have fed lies to the army. He should have gotten them out of there sooner. He should have done so many things. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in his lap to try to keep that voice back. It would be fine. They might get mad at him, but no one would hate him, right? They wouldn’t blame him as much as he blamed himself, would they?

A hand, warm and tender, rested upon Lance’s. It squeezed with reassurance, the fingers slender, almost dainty but strong. Keith didn’t know what had gotten Lance worked up. The man didn’t tell him much outside, but whatever it was Keith knew the outcome wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t move from Lance’s side. He wouldn’t let go of the hand he held, and to strengthen his position he leaned his head down on his shoulder for everyone in the room to see. The display had not been for affection. It broadcasted a message to the room. ‘With him, or against me.’

The tension started to leave Lance’s body when Keith took his hand, and it fled completely when that head rested on his shoulder. He sighed, took a deep breath, and spoke. “The ones who attacked the shop, Jin and his group, and the ones who chased us out of the city…” he paused and looked around. “It was the United States Army.” He dropped his eyes so he couldn’t see anyone’s expression. He couldn’t risk it.

“Man, really?” Hunk frowned and rubbed his hands together. “I mean I guess I should have figured when they used those machines. Regular people don’t have those.”

“I’m not surprised.” Shiro sighed as he helped Allura sit up, smiling warmly at her before looking at the rest of the group. “I’ve been sniffing around the area. I just figured we had more time.”

“We all did.” Pidge whispered. “I guess I’m grateful. Only an army grade bullet could go through that cleanly.” She held her arm. 

“They must have more than what we see.” Shay commented, her dark eyes thoughtful. “The Army is not a force of evil. It is the people in inside who command such things. There is no reason to go all out on a small group.” 

“Depends on how badly they want her back.” Keith nodded his head toward Allura.

“Or you.” She retorted gently. “You were a great source of research for them.” 

The back of Keith’s neck went cold. The image of him submerged in a tank, and held in a conscious suspended animation, confined and locked away, drained the color from his skin.

Hunk shifted his weight and took Shay’s hand. “Woah now. So it was the Army that did all that? Sam worked for them? Do they know about us?” He nodded towards Lance. “I mean we just..”

“No, they don’t know about us, Hunk.” Lance’s voice was barely a whisper, but it carried over the tense silence that settled at Hunk’s questions. “I don’t think they know anyway. I overheard the order for the attack, and my boss—well the commander, I guess he’s not my boss anymore, said I was collateral damage if I was there. I was useless and an idiot.” He sighed. 

“How wouldn’t they know about you, by now? A hundred people saw you escape with us. Several more saw you willingly take shots at their hired men.” Shiro’s said, stiff backed. “They may have thought those things, but know they know you’re with us.”

Keith shook his head, closing his eyes. “Sam was working with them?” He turned his gaze to Lance.

“Sure, they know now. But I meant they didn’t know about it before this morning. And I don’t think they know about the tattoos or abilities at all.” Lance grimaced and nodded to Keith. “That’s what it sounded like. I didn’t hear anything that specific, but…” He sighed and looked at Pidge. “Matt got away, but Sam didn’t. They have him. I’m sorry.”

“We have to go get him!” Pidge darted up from her bed only to be stopped by Shay’s arm across her chest. “What are you doing!? While we’re here-“

“While we’re here they won’t do anything. You’ve seen his note Pidge. There are only two other people in this world who can decipher anything Sam wrote.” Shiro rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You won’t do anyone any favors by rushing in halfcocked.”

“Shiro’s right.” Keith whispered. “We need more information. Believe me Pidge, there’s nothing more I want to do right now, but as we are, it’s too much of a risk.” 

“They won’t hurt him.” Hunk’s arms were crossed, and his brows furrowed. “He’s too valuable. Not just for the reasons you listed.” He nodded. “He’s too well known in the community, and after blowing up the shop, if they hurt him, everyone will know The Army did it, and as such it’s an act of aggression against Japan. They can’t risk that, at least not so publicly.”

Lance looked at Pidge again, his eyes shimmering. “I didn’t know they were going to do that. I don’t know where they took him. I’m sorry.” 

“That is if the Japanese government isn’t in on it too.” Keith grumbled. 

“Lance, I don’t blame you. You’re not that kind of guy.” Pidge sighed as she leaned against Shay.

Lance nodded a little towards Pidge and tried to offer her a smile. He gently squeezed Keith’s hand. “I don’t know if the government is in on it, honestly. The Army was giving weapons to local troublemakers. It’s how they work. Give incentives to locals and make it look like a civil issue and not an official act. But, then again…I can’t be sure.”

“Those crawlers we shot down weren’t officially army sanctioned either. I’ve never seen any on the base.” Hunk shook his head. “Sounds more like a secret operation.”

“You saw how they moved, nothing we have in existence is even comparable. To run like that and be that small.” Pidge rubbed her chin. “They’d need something more efficient than steam. Something highly combustible.”

Keith’s mind raced over the battle, every shot, every gear, every tingle which passed through his body. His eyes widened and he looked at Allura, her haunting opalescent fixed on him. “Me.”

“Us.” She whispered. “Our bodies, our blood.”

“But what you are suggesting is not possible.” Shay lifted her eyes from where she soothed Pidge’s hair. 

“Yeah if that’s true then why only go after Keith.” Snorted the youngest of them.

“Expendable.” Keith whispered. “I’m not Sam’s child. I’m not a Shirogane.”

“Keith…” Shiro whispered, the heartache palatable in his voice. He wanted to argue him down, but he had nothing to give the argument a voice.

“Lance and I are expendable too.” Hunk shook his head, knowing he didn’t need to make the reason obvious. “But that doesn’t matter because we’re all together now, and we are stronger together than apart. Go after one, get all.” He nodded. 

Lance gripped Keith’s hand and squeezed it. “And at the very least, they don’t know where we are or how to find us.”

“Using alchemic theory for biochemical reactions. Incredible.”

“Pidge.” Shiro’s voice warned. 

Keith leaned in closer to Lance. He tightened his grip on his hand as he turned to hide his face. The revelation’s sting burrowing deeper than he’d care to show the group. He sighed, feeling ill equipped to handle much more than the day had already given him.

“We can talk about it later.” Lance shook his head and rested his cheek against the top of Keith’s head. “We’re all exhausted, and we have a lot to plan and discuss.” He was relieved that no one was angry with him. It meant that he could use his nervous energy to help Keith, who seemed to be strained more than the rest of them.

“Yes. Especially you, Pidge.” Allura spoke softly but firmly. “We should take advantage of our host’s kindness and protection.”

“Even if we have to listen to Hunks snoring!” Pidge chimed, adding levity as her form of apology.

Keith gave Lance’s shoulder a weak nudge in the direction of the unoccupied futon against the far wall.

Hunk snorted. “Says the one who talks in her sleep.”

Lance said nothing as he helped Keith get to his feet and to that unoccupied futon. He did not let him go even as he lowered himself to sit.

Keith kissed his jaw and cuddled into Lance’s neck like a mother cat. He glanced over at Shiro, watching as the older man leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes. Keith started to get up to mirror his mentor’s actions.

Lance watched him and shook his head. “Come rest with me.” He kept his voice quiet as the others started to settle for sleep.

Keith offered Lance a tight smile. Explaining his upbringing and his history with Shiro and the rebels wouldn’t do him any good. The story was too long and too convoluted for their confined space.

The Shiroganes were formally of the samurai class. An elite branch of the famous Sanada clan. Someone’s son married someone’s daughter who gave birth and had all daughters and then married someone else’s son and somewhere in that mix laid the Shirogane micro clan. Shiro’s father was raised as a Samurai’s son, and after the Meiji era abolished the need for class, he was one of the lucky few who could apply his skill to other areas like making kimonos along with his seamstress wife. Shirogane taught his son everything he knew about bushido, and in turn Shiro taught Keith. 

Keith proved to be too good of a student. The rebels took notice, bringing him under their wing but only under Shiro’s watchful eye. Keith got stronger and faster, being the only member who could subdue a troupe without a shot fired or any bloodshed. Until today. Keith’s hands wrung against Lance’s sleeve. 

Keith blinked away the hunted dullness in his eyes and found Lance’s face again. The sweet unmarked tan face. “Where do you want me to lay?” He whispered, setting down again. “Can you fit me under that blanket with you?”

Lance laid back on the futon and lifted the blanket, nodding to Keith’s usual spot where he would be curled up against him. “I can always fit you under a blanket with me,” he whispered, noting the distant look in Keith’s eyes, but when the smaller man seemed to try to mask it, he knew now was not the time to pry. So instead, he would hold him, and kiss his hair, and comfort him the way Keith comforted him when he was anxious and afraid only moments before.

Keith crawled over him, kissing his cheek before he pressed himself along Lance’s flank, his head finding the perfect place to hear Lance’s heart, breath, and every swallow. “Thank you.”

Lance fixed the blanket over them and wrapped his arms around Keith’s smaller frame. “You don’t need to thank me. We both need to rest, and I need to be touching you to feel better.” He kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes. 

“Oh? Is that how it works?” Keith teased, and shifted his body a little more so he draped across the other man. “Like this?” On anyone else, the position might have looked uncomfortable, but Keith managed to make it seem like most natural posture in the world.

“Yes. Touching you helps immensely.” Lance grinned and opened one eye to look at him. “You’re warm, and it’s calming. And I know you like being in my arms, so it’s a benefit for both of us, isn’t it?”

“Anytime you want to me to use you as a bed, just say the word.” Keith smirked as he closed his eyes, turning his head to kiss Lance’s sternum, his arms folding up against his chest in the perfect image of a contented cat cuddling over a litter mate.

“So all the time? It’s like hugging a giant, warm cat.” Lance yawned and shifted so he could hold Keith closer. “Thank you.”

“Nyan.” Keith teased, the dry note of it reaching his ears and making him chuckle.

“Ugh you are impossibly cute.” Lance smiled and rubbed Keith’s back a bit. 

“Date me longer, I might even purr.” A flirt glinted into those violet eyes fully dissipating the darkness which had crept in.

“Is forever long enough?” Lance whispered. “As long as no one else ever hears it.”

“We’ll have to see.” Keith smiled, his eyes weighing down as he fell into the gentle rhythm of Lance’s breathing. 

It didn’t take long for Lance to be lulled to sleep once Keith had, his face tilting towards the hair that tickled his chin.

Keith’s sleep came and went in waves. Tossed between an easy slumber and fevered nightmares filled with the screams and flames. He wrapped tighter around Lance, fingers clutched into white knuckles as he gripped his shirt. Keith’s body burned. He swore he could hear his blood boil hiss while coursing through his veins. His lion roared in agony inside his head fueling the constant anxiety screaming inside him.

Lance woke every time Keith moved or whimpered in his sleep, and when Keith wrapped himself around him and gripped his shirt like that, there was no way either of them would rest if he let it continue. He sighed and rested his hands on Keith’s back, rubbing soothing circles as he hummed softly into his ear, trying to comfort and lull him into a more restful sleep.

“Hmm?” Keith sighed. “Hmn, you should be sleeping. Sorry I woke you.” His voice carried an airy echo sleepless frustration.

“You should be too.” Lance interrupted his humming long enough to speak, but he went right back to it, still rubbing Keith’s back.

“Nnm.” Keith nuzzled his head in, his hair covering his face. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

“Don’t apologize. You seemed to be having a nightmare.” Lance whispered. “So I wanted to hold you.”

“Always the Hero, hmm?” Keith managed to curl in tighter.

“No, just your pillow.” Lance rubbed his back more and smiled. 

“Same difference. Hmmm lower.” Keith arched a little to Lance’s hand.

“Okay, but remember we’re not alone.” Lance hummed and rubbed Keith’s lower back.

“Mmm I haven’t forgotten. Get your mind out of the gutter.” 

“I’m mostly reminding myself.” Lance held Keith a little closer and closed his eyes.

“Oh? Hold steady Soldier, we won’t be alone for a while.” Keith kissed Lance’s chest. 

“Why do you think I’m reminding myself?” Lance grinned. “Especially when you kiss me like that.”

“You two are trying to kill me.” Pidge grumbled.

“Nah, the gun spider tried to kill you.” Hunk groaned. “These two just want your teeth to rot out with all the sugar.”

“Their relationship was destined to be one of closeness. I just didn’t fathom how.” Allura whispered with her tonal elegance. 

Shiro sighed softly and let out a tiny snort. “Destined, huh? Well now you said it. Neither of them will ever let us hear the end of it.”

“Oh? You mad now Shiro?” Lance’s voice was soft, but he tried to keep it light. “Does it bug you that we were destined to be together?”

“No. As long as Keith is happy. I mean there are worse men he could have ended up with. There are also better, but we can’t be picky now, can we?” Shiro chuckled if only to let the others know he was joking. Everyone knew Lance was the more sensitive of the two, but Shiro wasn’t keen on getting punched by Keith again.

“No.” Keith whispered. “There’s no one better for me.” He nuzzled one more time before he sat up.

“Well everyone’s awake now.” Hunk stretched, kissing the top of Shay’s head as she curled into his shoulder.

“We know who to thank for that.” Pidge sighed sparing none of the dramatics.

“It’s still dark out, so you can try to sleep again as long as those two keep quiet.” Shiro shrugged slightly. “Pidge, you especially.”

“Sorry.” Lance sighed and closed his eyes, tucking his face into Keith’s hair. 

Keith kissed Lance’s cheek quickly before standing.

Lance looked up at him, brows furrowed. “Eh? Keith?” He sat up and reached for his hand. “What is it?”

“Bathroom.” Keith grinned with his characteristic arched brow.

“Oh.” Lance dropped his hand and nodded a little, but he kept his eyes on him.

“I’ll be fine.” He kissed the top of Lance’s head one more time before weaving his way through the futons and silently out of the room.

Lance sat on the futon, hands in his lap as he waited for Keith to return. The others started to settle back down into sleep, which was good because he was feeling more and more guilty the longer they stayed awake, even though he wasn’t the one who had the nightmares.

A weight settled down beside Lance, and Shiro’s heavy sigh escaped him. “I haven’t had a chance to thank you.” He whispered once a chorus of snores and even breathing filled the room again.

Lance couldn’t keep himself from tensing, but that was mostly because he just wasn’t expecting Shiro to sit next to him. “E…Eh? For what?” He glanced at the larger man out of the corner of his eye. “I didn’t do anything I need to be thanked for.” He kept his voice a low whisper, since the others had fallen asleep again.

“Helping him.” The simple words spoke volumes. “Thank you.”

“Oh.” Lance shrugged. “I don’t think I helped much, since he definitely helped me more, but…” He sighed softly. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“No matter what you say. You did something I couldn’t do.”

Lance arched a brow and bit back a snide comment. Instead he just shook his head and looked back down at his hands. “I’m sure there are plenty of things you did or will do for him that I can’t, so please don’t thank me for something I did, especially since I didn’t do anything to be thanked. I did things because I wanted to.”

“Are you always this difficult? I’m thanking you for protecting him, for saving him, for not sitting around on your ass trying to put the pieces together before barging into the lab. Just accept my gratitude. This isn’t easy for a guy to admit to another guy.” 

Lance turned a little and looked at Shiro before he sighed. “Yes, I am always this difficult. And it’s not that I’m not accepting your gratitude. I don’t want to be thanked for something I did selfishly. I don’t want to be thanked for something I did because I want to be with him, and keep him safe, and make him happy.” He sighed. “To me, that’s not worth thanks. If you want to thank me for something, thank me for not punching you when I found out you wanted him to spy on me.” His lips twitched into a slight grin. “Though you look like you have a hard face, and my hand would hurt.”

“I’ll consider us even for the fact that I didn’t punch you for sleeping with one of the two most important people in my life.” A scarred eyebrow lifted up on Shiro’s face in an exact replica of Keith’s honed expression. 

Lance’s grin faltered, and he frowned for a moment, the expression on Shiro’s face causing something to twist in his gut before he forced the grin to come back to his lips. “Careful now, Shiro. If you talk like that, it’ll sound like you’re jealous.”

Shiro’s chuckle was soft, gentle and filled with a settling warmth. “Nothing to be jealous of. Keith is family and that makes you family. Though, for the record. I did like you before you ever met him, and I don’t think I regret putting him up on that stage anymore.” Shiro sighed. “Keith. He really relies on you, doesn’t he?” 

“I’m not sure if there’s a veiled insult in there somewhere, but thanks?” Lance glanced at him. “Just don’t try to older brother me. I get enough of that at home.” But he blinked a little at Shiro’s question. “Does he?”

“You can’t tell?” Shiro quirked his head at him. “Seriously? Keith is the type of guy who is always waiting for the world to fuck him over, but he takes it all in stride. Sure, he has days where it gets to him, but if he didn’t, I’d wonder if he was human. But he holds it all in. He fights his own battles and doesn’t want to burden anyone else. He’s never learned to rely on anyone. Not even me. Not really. It’s sink or swim with him. But you? You’re the only one he trusts to hold his head above water. He relies on you, involves you. Reaches out to you. So. If he can do all that. I think I’d like to rely on you a little myself.”

“Oh.” Lance couldn’t stop the flush that heated his cheeks. He knew Keith trusted him, but that he relied on him as much as Shiro said? Shiro would know, wouldn’t he? He fidgeted a little and looked at him. “I…don’t know if I’m all that reliable, but I can try to be.”

“Good. I’ll leave the rest to you. We’ve had a spy for a little while now.” Shiro grinned when he heard Keith’s telltale ‘hic’ coming from just beyond the door. 

“Not a very good one, apparently.” Lance shook his head and looked over at the door, smiling a bit.

“Nope. I’m pretty glad for it too.” Shiro stood up and ruffled the hair on Lance’s head, nodding to Keith before he walked back to Allura’s side, whispering something neither boy could hear before laying down beside her.

When Keith came back to the futon his posture was stiff. “So, what was that all about?”

“He thanked me for doing what he couldn’t, and it felt kind of weird.” Lance looked at him before he pulled him down into his lap and held him close, pressing his face into his neck. “Really weird, but I feel better about some things.”

Keith cupped his hand over his mouth to stifle a squawk, turning into a nervous giggle. “Miss me that much?” He whispered, this time keeping his voice as soft as a breath as he leaned back against him, letting Lance take any solace he needed in him.

Lance nodded his reply, holding him as close as he could without hurting him. 

“Tired?”

Lance nodded again, whispering. “Yes, are you?”

“Spent. It was a long day.” Keith curled up. “And they aren’t about to get any shorter.”

Lance nodded and settled back, pulling Keith down to lay against him. “I won’t let go of you, okay? So try to sleep as well as you can.” He whispered, his voice getting softer until it was replaced with even breathing.


	19. Sakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ EXPLICIT (You know why)~~~~** Look for the ~~~~ if you don't want to read it, though this one might be important for characters. However we will try to sum everything up in the next chapter like usual
> 
> **SEE NEW ART**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Cherry Blossom** _Sakura 桜_ \- Kind/Gentle/Transience of Life/A short/young life lived beautifully
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **NEW ART - Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)

“You have been watching him for hours. I can understand why Lance gets agitated so easily.” The South African whisper curled like a purr into Shiro’s ear. “Even I feel a bit jealous. And I know what goes on in that head of yours. I practically lived there for years.”

“Yeah, and that’s a bit creepy.” Shiro made an exaggerated roll of his eyes but the soft smile negated the sour expression. “I’ve been watching over him almost my whole life. Old habits…”

“I think I understand that. I’ve been doing the same. All my life.” A thin shoulder pressed into Shiro’s bicep. The feel of such a fragile touch ignited every protective instinct the Japanese man had. 

“So, why me then? Why did you enter my dreams?” Shiro folded his hands in his lap, listing to the sounds of Keith coaching Pidge. It had been two weeks since they came to the mountain temple. Coran had managed to collect Matt and kept the boy hidden at the Okiya. Matt didn’t complain.

The US army and the Japanese government issued rewards for the location and capture of two AWOLed soldiers with little preference on the state of their return, nor that of their companions. Keith and Allura were the only ones who had to be alive. Though their condition was left up to the means necessary for capture.

But here they waited in some kind of limbo. With everyone on high alert and Pidge still recovering, no one wanted to risk making any brash moves. Sam’s mind was needed, and the army wouldn’t do anything to harm him, at least for now.

“Your dreams? Well,” Slender fingers laid over the lion on Shiro’s chest. “I’m more compatible, mentally, with someone like you.” Allura answered Shiro’s question with structured simplicity. She had thought about her answer to the question long before Shiro voiced it.

“Compatible?” Shiro sighed with her gentle touch. 

“Hmm you are the black lion. Time, space, the essence of the unknown. Dreams are just another place in time. You are disciplined, honorable, and calm. And yet never boring.” She grinned. 

“Keith can be all those things, but his mind is chaotic. Scattered. It’s hard for him to focus on any one thing. Thoughts, problems, solutions, consequences, desires, peaks of a raging fire, it all burns so hot and so brightly, fueled by his heart, it’s impossible for me to encroach.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell me what was happening?” Shiro held his hand over hers. “I would have come to you.”

“Dreams are never direct. A dreaming mind is different from a wakeful one. Perceptions vary greatly.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Shiro rubbed his chin, laughing at Pidge cursing a small gale of insults at a bemused Keith.

“Does it?” Allura asked.

“Nope. But I’ll take your word for it.” A charmer’s slow smirk came to Shiro’s lips before he focused back on the morning physical therapy session. “He seem ‘off’ to you?”

“Keith again?” Allura joked, but judging by the deepening of Shiro’s brow, the man became serious. “Distant. I guess. More so than usual.”

“See that.” Shiro pointed “he can’t hold the dagger without his hand shaking.” Allura narrowed her eyes to see what the large man had noticed, but her untrained eye could not pick it up.

“Was he injured somehow?” She asked.

“No. It’s not like that. It’s…” Shiro stood up, clay tiles protesting under foot. “I’m going to speak to Lance.” He bent down to kiss her forehead and froze any complaints and then he was gone.

Lance sat under the large tree he had claimed that first day they had arrived. His head tilted back against the bark, and his eyes stared up at the leaves as they swayed with the gentle rustling of the wind. It was best for everyone if he isolated himself out here. Ever since Coran brought back the news about their wanted status and the fact that everything Lance had thought was wrong, he just didn’t have the confidence to sit in front of them all and act like he had any right to be there. 

It didn’t help that Keith was having nightmares about something and wouldn’t confide in him. He woke up every night to the smaller man’s whimpers and groans. And all he could do was try to lull him into a more peaceful sleep, though that never actually seemed to work. 

And so he sat out here every day, listening to the wind, chiding himself for everything. He allowed himself to feel down and despondent when no one was around. If anyone asked, he liked sitting out here because it was calming. Because he couldn’t help Keith help Pidge with her physical therapy. Because he couldn’t cook like Shay and Hunk. Because Allura didn’t need him and needed Shiro. So he was the odd-man out. It was easier for him to pretend everything was okay when they were all together if it wasn’t all day.

His head lulled to the side and looked towards the temple when he heard the door open, expecting Hunk to tell him food was ready. His brows furrowed when he saw Shiro walking towards him. He sat up a little straighter and closed the book on his lap, not that he had been reading it anyway.

“Out here again, huh?” Shiro sat on the body of a large root, leaning forward with his arms across his knees. “You’ve never experienced a Japanese spring before, have you?”

Lance nodded once and turned his head to look at Shiro. He was trying not to be so strained towards the older man, though there was still some lingering bitterness. They had a good conversation when they first arrived, but everyone doing their own thing kind of frayed Lance’s nerves. For Keith’s sake, he was trying. He knew Shiro was trying, too. “No, I haven’t.”

“You’ll never want to leave once the Sakura bloom.” Shiro sighed, watching the man shift uncomfortably. He’d come to peace knowing Lance and him would never have a smooth relationship, but at least now they could be cordial. 

“Is that so?” Lance managed a little smile. “Then I will have to take some time when things settle to see them.”

“How you holding up?”

Lance rolled his shoulders a bit as he turned his body more towards Shiro. “I’m fine? Why?”

“Things are rough. You haven’t been sleeping well.” Shiro shrugged as if the answer explained everything. They all shared one room, and Shiro was finely attuned to Keith’s fearful whimpers since childhood. 

“Ah.” Lance tried to brush it off, but he knew that meant more that Keith hadn’t been sleeping well, not him. So he just shrugged and shook his head. “I come out here and nap a little sometimes when everyone else is busy. It’s fine.” He said, as though that would be enough, even if it wasn’t. “You didn’t really come out here to check on me, though, did you Shiro? So why don’t you just ask what you want to ask?”

“You know, you’re kind of unpleasant.” Shiro sighed, but the smirk on his face held an odd fondness. “Alright, I’ll cut to the chase then. Keith. He’s been different since you two got back. At first I thought it was because of the incident with the lab but that should be healed by now. The physical issues, anyway.” Shiro lowered his eyes. 

“I was watching him train and work with Pidge. He shook. His hands were shaking. Like he was scared of something…”

Lance looked at him for a long moment. “You’ve been watching him a lot, haven’t you?” Of course he had. Shiro was almost kind of obsessed with making sure Keith was okay. Maybe it was suffocating at times, but in this case, he was somewhat thankful for it. “I’ll find out. I haven’t been there while he’s been helping her, so I haven’t seen it, but I will talk to him and see what’s up.” He had his suspicions of course. Keith also hadn’t been having nightmares until recently either, so the two were obviously connected. 

“Allura said the same thing.” Shiro lifted his head to watch the leaves flutter. “He’s the only family I have left, and it’s hard to let go. I’ve protected him as well as I could. I screwed up along the way, but he always forgave me. I went too far in some cases and not far enough in others. I shouldn’t have gotten him involved in half the things I did, but even in the thick of it I tried to keep his hands clean, ya know?”

“Yeah…I know. And you did keep his hands clean, didn’t you?” Lance watched Shiro. “And now you see him, and you can’t help trying to make up for all the mistakes you think you made before all of this happened. But you didn’t make as many as you think you did, so it’s okay to keep yourself from smothering him with it once in a while. Besides, if Allura said the same thing, you’re probably making her jealous. Maybe you should lighten up hm?” There was a ghost of a grin on his lips as he pushed himself up from the trunk of the tree. 

“When we were escaping, and Pidge got shot, he—well his hands are no longer clean. That’s likely it. I didn’t think about it before because he seemed okay. But now that I think about it, when you two had that huge fight and he hid at the base for a couple of nights. He spoke about what he did for the group, and he said he hadn’t killed anyone, but he didn’t seem to judge me for having done it. Maybe he was more comfortable accepting it from someone else than he is accepting it when it’s himself.” Lance clutched the book tightly. “I will speak with him. It’s best that he doesn’t know you know. At least until I can help him cope.”

Shiro closed his eyes against the pain clutching inside of him. “I suppose it was a matter of time. Keith is one of the best fighters I know. He could clear a room without taking a life.”

“Don’t let on that you know. That will crush him even more.” Lance stepped past Shiro and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Just know that it wasn’t what Keith would have done if the circumstance was avoidable. He is clearly upset because of it. I will try to soothe his pain.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Shiro flopped back against the ground. Letting go was the hardest damn thing he ever had to do. 

“In the meantime, focus on Allura. She’s probably scared out of her mind right now.” Lance stepped towards the shrine. “You’re the only one who can comfort her, you know.”

“I know. She’s stronger than she looks. I’m not so sure I’m the one doing the comforting.”

“Well, either way, just as long as you focus on her for a bit.” Lance shrugged at Shiro as the other man rose and returned to the building. He started to follow him towards the shrine, but as he walked towards the steps, he could have sworn he saw movement off to the side. Cautiously, he crept around the wooden building, still clutching his book, not that it would do him any good. And as he rounded the corner, he saw Keith push through a thicker line of trees and seem to vanish. 

His heart sank, and the pit of his stomach rolled and grew cold as he started after him. Where was he going? Was he okay? He reached that line of trees and stepped into the woods, brows furrowing. “Keith?”

Lance tailed the figure through the thicket, chasing after a ghost or a nymph as they toyed with an knowing traveler. Keith may not have been a tracker, but his instincts would give Lance away the moment he came down wind, tripped, or cracked a branch.

The hike hadn’t been an easy one, but after an hour a change came to the forest. The air got sweeter, warmer. The budding foliage of the temple grew into lush greenery. Body sized leaves hung over Keith’s path with deep red, yellow and blue veins running through their waxen surface in explosions. Spring. Flowers popped and speckled the ground in areas the sun reached through the canopy with bamboo trees breaking the sky, reaching for what the maples denied it. 

Keith stepped through a thicket, a smile easing his expression as he entered the clearing. For a week he’d venture out on his walks, exploring the mountain and checking the perimeter. He often brought a small dinner latched at his hip and be out for hours at a time. No one stopped him, no one argued with him. They let him be. And Keith enjoyed the moments he had to exhale and to lose himself in nature. 

Their cramped spaced added to Keith’s anxiety. They shared blankets, bedding, food, and limited room. No one could blame him for just wanting to step away and be with his thoughts. Lance had his tree. Keith had this.

A natural untouched hot spring nestled in the in the center of the clearing. Steam curled over the surface fighting with the mountain air and creating a swirling low laying fog. It whispered around Keith’s feet, beckoning him to come closer. On the outer edge, sakura trees flooded the banks with their reaching branches. Pink and white blossoms bloomed in the moonlight, catching the rays and with brilliant silver radiance. The fragrance stuck to the air, damping the sulfuric scent of the hot spring into nothing. 

Keith sighed, contentment softening ironing out the creases in his brow, and he appeared more relaxed with each layer of his clothing he removed. He pulled his hair up in a pencil twisted bun and took his first steps into the water. The mineral enriched heated liquid stung at first, his pores opening up and his skin tingled. The pain felt sweet and healing. A moan of utter bliss escaped him as he walked forward, sinking into the water and allowing the tingles to travel through his body, caressing and massaging his muscles. 

Lance stopped at that line of bushes and blinked, looking around the clearing with some sense of childish awe. He had never seen trees or a small spring look so serene and beautiful before. Pink petals floated in the wind, some landing in the water, but almost too light to disturb the surface. So this had been where Keith had been coming on his walks. No wonder they were long. He wouldn’t have been able to leave a place like this so easily either. And as his gaze swept the area, they came upon Keith sinking into that hot water. The smile that ghosted his lips caused a pang of guilt to coil in Lance’s chest. Keith had been suffering so much these past few weeks, but here, alone, he could relax. He understood. He didn’t like it, but he understood. Lance had separated from everyone because he felt useless and alone. Keith separated himself from everyone because he needed to be alone. Of course he did. Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, they all worried about him. Lance worried about him too. It must have been suffocating.

Keith drifted, allowing his other senses to take control. The wind sent baby soft strands of hair to tickle his face. The smell of the flowers perfuming himself and the water relaxing his nerves. The sound of trees rustling and distant natural wilding life, waking up with the rise of the moon calmed his mind. He floated up and away from it all with one more contented breath.

Blood. Gears. Burning flesh. Sizzling spit. Screams of pain. Keith’s eyes shot open, wild and terrified. Even without dreams, the images were coming to him. If he didn’t dream about the lab, he had nightmares of watching that man die. The release of energy, the crunch of bone, and the rag doll tumble into the flames. He forced the nausea down with a hand over his mouth. 

He settled his thinning frame back against a rock. His eyes closed as he repeated the breathing techniques Lance showed him, and after a few moments he stood up, the water only coming to his waist. He couldn’t escape what he’d done and a stifled sob escaped him.

Tears rolled free and unchecked down his cheeks. He didn’t have to hide them here. While his fingers skimmed the surface of the water touching upon a blossom tossed into the pool by the wind. They were the only things here to judge him.

Lance watched Keith relax back into the water, and the guilt only increased. Why was he just spying on him like this? Keith was his lover, but was it right to watch him and be slightly aroused by him? Was it because of the way the water made his naked body look more alluring? He was about to chide himself and leave when Keith suddenly stood up. It looked like he hadn’t noticed him yet, but could he leave now that any movement would surely alert his presence to the other man?

He thought about ducking behind the bushes and crawling away, but something held him in place. Keith was crying. There were tears on his cheeks. In that moment, though he was clearly upset, Lance found him even sexier. And he mentally scolded himself for being slightly aroused by his lover’s tears. And yet, at the same time, his heart hurt. Seeing Keith cry was almost too much, and he couldn’t help it as he stepped from those bushes. “K…Keith…”

The unexpected voice forced the man to jump and spin toward the sound. His hair falling loose in a disheveled mass, adding to his androgynous appeal. If gods could weep Lance might have found himself face to face with one. 

“Lance? W..what? How long have you been there?” A blush, darker than one caused by the steam colored Keith’s cheeks. It was a strange contradiction inside the bearer of the red lion. He could seduce, taunt, and show little mercy when he wanted to play. However, if caught off guard a meekness came to him a self-conscious flourished in those features and made his arms wrap around his body. 

“I…saw you sneak into the woods, and I followed you.” Lance’s face had to have conveyed how guilty he felt for it. “I…” He kicked a pebble on the ground and bowed his head a little. But as he did so, his eyes traveled down that perfectly chiseled body, lingering where the water just barely covered Keith’s sex, before he tore them away and stared at his feet. “I’ll go… Sorry.”

“No. Stay.” The air around Keith eased with the presence of the other. The lion on his back grew restless when away from Lance for too long, and now with him so close, he swore he heard it purring in his mind. “I… I feel better when you’re here.” 

“Do you?” Lance lifted his head and looked at him again. “It…well at first…it looked like you felt better being alone.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Keith looked thinner, and the way he stood in the water with his back to Lance made that pale skin look more delicate. “Have you been coming here to cry every night?”

“No. That…” Realizing he still had tears on his face, Keith turned away. “That happens.”

“I’m sorry.” Lance sighed and remained on the edge of the spring, shifting to his other foot again, his eyes dropping to the ground beneath him. “I haven’t been taking care of you like I should have. I haven’t been what you need.”

“I don’t.” Keith looked over his shoulder. “I don’t get what you mean.”

“You’re suffering, and I don’t know how to help you. You keep having nightmares, you come here and cry.” Lance shook his head and continued to stare at the grass below his feet, the shame becoming a bit overwhelming. “What can I do for you, Keith? How can I give you what you need?”

“What do you think I need?” Keith shifted looking from side to side now feeling a bit awkward. “This is weird though. I.. Are you just going to stand there and stare at the ground?”

“Well, I didn’t know if you would be okay with me getting in the water with you.” Lance looked at him. That nervous movement only made him a little more frail, though it looked like the lion on Keith’s back was looking right through him the longer he looked at him. “And you turned away from me, so…I figured you were embarrassed.”

“When has my embarrassment ever stopped you?”

“When you’re crying and came here to be alone.” Lance sighed, but he started to pull his clothing off, his eyes now locked on the water in front of him. 

“I just came here to breathe.” Keith looked up at the sky, closing his eyes as the he soaked in the moonlight, the blossoms still dancing at the tips of his fingers before the troubled water of Lance’s approach graced it away. 

Lance finished peeling his clothes off and set them down by Keith’s before he slowly stepped into the water. The heat should have bothered him. It reddened his skin a little. But right now he couldn’t focus on anything else other than the ethereal man standing in front of him. “It’s the same thing.”

“Sometimes when someone is suffocating, they need someone else to breathe life into them.” Keith placed his chin on his shoulder and caught Lance’s eye as he walked over to him.

“If that’s true, then why did you come here alone?” Lance looked up at him once he was within arms’ reach. “Why are you suffering alone? Why…” He reached out and touched his back. “Why do you have to look so sexy when you cry?” He winced a little at that line. It was supposed to stay in his head, and now he felt like an idiot.

Keith shivered with the touch. His caress came simple and light, yet Keith couldn’t remember the last time Lance had touched his bare skin. “You think I’m sexy when I cry?” The Lion stirred again, craving the essence of the blue lion as badly as Keith did.

Well, there was no talking his way out of this one, so Lance just nodded a little. “Yeah. I can’t help it. Every time I see your tears I just want to touch you.” His fingers trembled a little as they traced the shape of the lion on his back. “I get warm. It’s really stupid isn’t it? But it turns me on, and that probably sounds super bad. It’s not like…I like seeing you in pain or anything. But your tears…” Even talking about it was getting him more aroused. 

“Mmn.” Keith tilted his head against his shoulder, his eyes lidded as he stared out into the tree line. He heard the lion purring in his head as Lance caressed it. “That doesn’t mean you’re stupid. It means when you see me cry, you want to be the one to make me stop.”

“Is that it? Then you have more faith in me than I do.” Lance took another step forward and slid his hand around Keith’s side and over his stomach, pulling him back against his chest. The lion on his arm coiled and seemed to reach for Keith now that he was closer. “I think, sometimes, I want to see you cry more.” He whispered into the back of his ear. “At least, in pleasure, not pain.”

“Did you want me to call you twisted? And admit I like it?” Keith smirked with a coy look over his shoulder. “No one is around to hear me cry, if that’s what you’re after.”

Lance didn’t know if it was the water’s warmth or his own that made him shudder a little, but he pressed against Keith’s backside and held him closer. “I want to make you feel good, not bad.”

“How long has it been?” 

“That night in the geisha house.” Lance murmured and nuzzled the back of Keith’s ear before he licked the tender flesh. “Two weeks. Too long.”

“Hmm. Can you make it so I can’t think?” Keith’s breath quivered, and his body pressed back.

“I don’t know.” Lance sighed and pressed his lips to the side of Keith’s neck. “But I can try.”

Keith’s knees buckled forcing his weight on him. “You…haven’t forgotten that spot…”

“You mean your skin?” Lance murmured against his neck. He licked once as his hands slid down over his stomach and towards his lower abdomen. 

“What are you trying to say?”

“Hm? That you’re sensitive to my touch, especially when you’ve been without it for two weeks.” Lance licked Keith’s neck again and let his fingers dance towards his heat, not touching him yet.

“It’s the only touch I’ve known. Has it really been two weeks?” Keith whispered.

“Yes. Like I said earlier, too long.” Lance’s fingers dipped below the surface of the water and found his heat.

“Ah!” Keith bowed his head forward, twisting his hips back. 

Lance kissed Keith’s neck as his fingers started to slide along the length of Keith’s sex. “Did you miss me?”

“Nn. Yes.” Keith groaned, the heat and Lance’s slow seduction left him dizzy, and he forfeited his strength to Lance. “We haven’t had a moment alone.”

“No, we haven’t.” Lance whispered into his ear and licked the shell of it. “I guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time now hm? If I had known you were coming here, I would have come and done this sooner.” His hand curled around Keith’s heat and moved slowly.

Keith let out the smallest whimper of permission, his head folding back over Lances shoulder, lulling into his neck. 

Lance kept his movements slow, wanting to cherish each of the whimpers that came from Keith’s lips. He pressed himself against his backside and rubbed against the soft flesh there. “Keith…”

“Lance. It’s hot. I-I can’t stand.”

“Lean back on me, then.” Lance smirked and sped up his hand. “If you can stand properly while I’m doing this, I’m not doing a good job.”

“Aha!” After torturous minutes Keith bowed his back, hips breaking the surface the water as he came. He froze like that through every last quiver until he fell forward in a pleasure and heat induced swoon.

Lance held Keith close as he came down from his orgasm. He nuzzled his lips to his neck and kissed once. “Let’s get out of the water.” Lance didn’t wait for a response before he hoisted Keith into his arms and carried him to the edge of the spring, stepping out and setting him down on the soft grass.

Keith looked up at Lance in a daze. Keith wasn’t much smaller than Lance, and the difference came mostly in their height. Keith had a lean but solidly built masculine body. His skin, hair, and a handful of facial features were the only traits passing for feminine. So when Lance picked him bridal style under his legs, Keith couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

“How are you- Ho..” Lush grass and moss cradled Keith’s neck, red skin from the spring started to pale back to its natural color in the moon light.

“How am I what?” Lance reached down and pushed a wet strand of Keith’s hair from his forehead, smiling at the way his skin seemed to shine. “Was it wrong of me to carry you? Should I have let you go?”

“Don’t let anyone else see you carry me like that.” Keith blushed. “It wasn’t wrong. I just… you’re stronger than you let on. And I felt a little… you know?”

“You’re the only one who’s ever really felt my muscles.” Lance smirked. “But don’t worry. I won’t let anyone else see. I’m not out to embarrass you. Just love you.” He leaned down and kissed him.

“Mmm.” Keith murmured. “Okay.” Keith danced his fingers over the warm, slick skin of Lance’s back.

~~~~~~~~~

Lance kissed him again and lowered his body more so he was laying on top of Keith, though he kept his weight off him. “What else do you want from me?”

“Let me feel you. Everything. Anything. I want more of you.”

“What do you want to feel, Keith? That was a bit too vague.” Lance kissed him again and again, sliding a hand over his hip.

“Anything, means anything. However you want. Any way you want. You’ve shown me so much, but that.” Keith touched Lance’s lips, preventing further kisses to distract him. “I want to know. What are your desires.”

Lance’s tongue slipped out and pressed against those fingers at his lips before he took a digit into his mouth and watched Keith’s face, saying nothing.

“Lance…” Tingles skipped like pebbles down to his groin.

“Mmm?” Lance continued to lavish Keith’s finger with attention he could have been paying elsewhere, but since Keith had been vague earlier, he decided to tease him just a little.

“Nn,” Keith’s soft velvet tongue licked salt from his lips. “Is that all you want?”

Lance took his mouth off Keith’s finger and smirked. “Maybe. Maybe I like seeing your reaction.” He took Keith’s hand and brought it to his lips again, but this time he kissed his palm, then his wrist.

“Ah!” Dark lidded eyes watched Lance hit his sweet spot, feeling his pulse beat against Lance’s lips. “I… ah!” His hand curled in. 

The smirk never left Lance’s lips even as he let his tongue come out to taste Keith’s skin. He knew this drove the other man crazy, and with the way his body squirmed, he knew he had gotten to him. He let out a soft snort of accomplishment before he licked his wrist again.

“Lance, I want to hear it. Talk to me.” Keith cupped Lance’s cheek, there was a lonely desperation buried under his arousal. “Please. I need your voice.”

“Oh? You didn’t want me to show you?” Lance licked his wrist one more time before he took Keith’s lips in a kiss. 

The kiss, warm an hot as it was, tore through Keith’s chest, and tears welled and fell to mix the dew in the grass, smearing into the streak of dirt against his cheek.

“Oh? Am I being that bad to you?” Lance licked up one of those trails of tears, his eyes half closing as he tasted the salt on his tongue. He pressed himself closer to Keith and groaned. 

They rarely met in the middle. The natural opposites in their behaviors elevated when they needed the other most. Keith needed Lance to take control, to be rougher, to possess him, to occupy his mind leaving nothing but him. Lance needed to be needed. When Keith was at his weakest and most vulnerable, he had to have him. He had to be the one beside him, holding him, supporting him, the only one to see to kiss his tears away. He had to know these moments were his and his alone. Everyone knew Keith was strong, willful, and independent. The side of Keith who cried alone in the woods and then clung to Lance in desperation only Lance knew. Lance’s job was to ease the ache burning inside the fragile façade, so he could be strong for everyone else. “Lance…”

Lance’s brows furrowed when Keith said his name like that, but didn’t actually answer his question or react to his actions. Keith was so fragile in this moment, and while Lance knew he wouldn’t break him, he was still unsure. He sat up and looked down at Keith, confusion crossing his features. “Am I doing something wrong?” He barely whispered out the words, since he didn’t want his voice to betray his feelings more than his face already had. “I don’t understand, Keith. What do you want me to do?”

Keith sat up with Lance, unable to let him go as his face pressed against his shoulder. “Erase it. The smell, the sound, the feeling, everything. I don’t want to see it anymore.” Without anyone noticing, without the slightest creak of breaking glass, at some point within the last two weeks, Keith shattered. Silently and alone. He tried to piece himself back together, but sentiment did little more than to caulk the shards together. Lance held in his arms a burnt-up relic. Buried and forgotten with decades of patina making the true artifact indistinguishable.

“Okay.” Lance held Keith close for a moment, his eyes closing as he tried to process everything that was currently happening. How could he have let Keith break so much without even noticing? How come he wasn’t there for him when he needed it most? The thought rolled in his stomach like the heaviest lead weight, threatening to tear him up with guilt. “Keith…” He rested a hand on the back of Keith’s head and stroked his hair, his body shifting so he could lay the other man back again. Could he make this better? Could he be what Keith needed to be? He had to try.

“Please.” The tears came harder when Lance set him back on the cool earth, each crystal catching in the moon light. He turned his head and captured Lance’s hand, pressing the palm to his lips. Keith was never a man who would admit to needing protection or ask to be saved, but right now in the silver rays and surrounded by the delicate Sakura petals, he trusted Lance to know how to do what he couldn’t do for himself. “I need you.”

“You do?” Lance brushed his thumb over his cheek to catch some of those tears. Again, it heated up some carnal desire deep inside him even though the guilt grew. He nodded and managed a little smile. He would push those heavy feelings aside for now. Keith was the most important. “Then let me give you what you need.” He slid his other hand down over Keith’s hip and thigh before his hands found the heat he had teased earlier in the spring. “I will give you everything. All of me. All of my love,” he whispered as his finger slid over the tip.

Keith held his hand to his lips, tasting the mix of water and his tears on Lance’s skin. “H-how? How will you?” His sex woke again in Lance’s hand. “How will you give me everything?”

Lance slid his finger down Keith’s length. “Well, there are several ways I can give you everything.” He pressed his own need against Keith’s thigh and grinned. “But it depends on how you want to take it.”

“Ah.” Keith turned his head about the clearing and blinked. “My stuff. There should be some salve in there…” Keith blushed a little knowing he implicated himself with the statement but not going to deny it. All it took was one time of Lance trying to go in dry to make sure Keith always had something on his person. 

“Oh?” Lance pulled his finger, and then the rest of his body away from Keith and arched a brow down at him. “Always prepared hm?” Not that he could blame him. There was one night where they two of them had gone out for ramen, as a re-do date for the first one that was messed up by Jin and his cronies. They both drank too much, and neither of them were thinking when they got back to Keith’s room, touching, kissing, trying to do it without preparing themselves first. One wince had sobered Lance up immediately, and while he wouldn’t admit it to Keith, he also carried a little bottle of lotion in his things, just in case. “So maybe you wanted me to follow you, then? You should have let me see you slip into the woods earlier.” He turned and rummaged through Keith’s things and pulled out the small tub of salve. 

“Mn. Lesson learned.” Keith leaned up on his elbows, a hint of a smile on the edges of his lips. “I didn’t know where we’d end up and it was in my bag when I ran out of the apartment.” 

“I’m certainly not complaining.” Lance’s shoulders relaxed when it looked like Keith might be able to smile. He opened the jar and scooped out some of the salve, coating himself first before he coated his fingers. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you.”

“You couldn’t if you tried.” Keith’s face burned as Lance readied himself. Watching him touch and manipulate his own hardness made his own twitch and pulse. The greasy viscus texture of the lubricant squeezed between his fingers as Lance coated and rounded his hand over the tip. Keith didn’t notice he was staring, nor notice the way his tongue flicked over to wet his lips. 

Lance did notice Keith staring, so he dabbed a little more salve on his fingers ‘just in case’ and stroked the cream over his hot sex once more, as though trying to be thorough enough to prove his previous point. Slow, calculated movements of his fingers, his heat twitching beneath them before he leaned over Keith and smirked. “You liked seeing me do that.” And he gently smeared some of the salve over Keith’s tip. Not enough to take away from the readiness of his digits as he lowered them to push one into the squirming man, but enough to hopefully arouse Keith even more.

“Ah!” The finger slid into Keith without the slightest bit of resistance, his muscles knowing, ready, and very wanting. “I never watched before.” Keith admitted, his eyes wide as turned them down to see Lance stroke over his own. His dark fingers dancing over him as precum pearled and slid down the side joining the small dab of oil.

“No? Well considering how hot it made you, you should watch more.” Lance smirked as he moved his finger in his lover, leaning down to kiss him. “I’ll do it for you whenever you want.”

“Now? While you ready me.” Gone were the tears staining Keith’s cheeks. The pain and the loneliness the last two weeks brought still lingered in his eyes but as shadows against the hunger radiating within the violet facets. He gave himself completely to the sensation. He didn’t fight it, he didn’t try to maintain a semblance of polite decency. “I want t-to see you do it.” An explicit moan followed his words as a long finger stroked over the secret spot inside.

“Oh? Now? When I’ve already made it perfectly ready for you?” Lance pushed another finger into Keith and smirked. He felt heat travel through his body when those dark eyes looked him over, but instead of touching himself, he curled his other hand around Keith and moved it in tandem with the fingers working him over. “Will you settle for this instead? At least for now? You’re enjoying my fingers too much for me to distract both of us by touching myself.”

“Ahh!” Keith’s neck arched back, his head pressing into the wet moss and earth below him as he let the night air carry his cry. The two forces pistoning his body drove his senses mad. His inner cavern twitched and gripped while his sex swelled and grew hotter. 

“That’s definitely a yes.” Lance smirked and leaned down, licking along Keith’s neck as both of his hands moved to drive Keith to the brink of pleasure. He pumped his lover, sometimes matching the pacing of his fingers, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. “Look at me.”

Compelled to do as Lance ordered, Keith settled his back against the ground, his pleasure hazed eyes focused on Lance. His whimpers and mewls came out as delicate as molded crystal with the raw edge of broken glass. Each sound crafted for Lance’s ears. They were pleas bordering on demands without a single word leaving his lips.

Lance shuddered and pulled his fingers out of Keith, his eyes locking onto the twilight orbs that stared back at him. “Keep looking at me.” He let go of the other man’s heat, too, but he moved both of his hands to his hips and lifted them, shifting to line himself up and only letting go with one hand long enough to guide himself into the warmth that seemed to be twitching in anticipation.

Keith arched and cried out, climaxing with only the first entry into his body. His fingers wrapping around Lance’s hands and digging into his wrists. “Keep going…” 

“I wasn’t going to stop.” Lance grunted at the pressure of Keith’s fingers on his wrists, but he held himself steady as Keith’s body rode out his orgasm. When the smaller man finished emptying his pleasure onto their stomachs, he started to move his hips with a slow rhythm. 

“Ah!” Lance knew Keith’s body. He knew every trigger and how to hit every button inside and out. “Ahah! Lance!” He thrust himself against his prostate, repeatedly. The moments between sweet torments become less and less until Keith only knew a constant vibrating pleasure.

Lance’s moans came out in gasps and grunts as he moved his hips, and each of Keith’s noises of pleasure only drove him to thrust a little faster and a little harder.

Keith came again, his world freezing in unyielding euphoria. He squeezed Lance’s wrist, urging him to continue. Keith wanted to feel what he could from his lover, and he gave in to every desire his body had until orgasms wracked his body. Leaving him dry with nothing left to give, yet still his body convulsed and begged for more.

There was no way Lance could hold back when Keith came, and his hips moved without considering the body below him. He groaned, his fingers pressing into Keith’s flesh in an attempt for him to regain control, but that wasn’t happening as he emptied himself into his lover.

“Lose it with me…” Keith pulled Lance down to him, his lips by his ear. “Don’t hold back…”

“I…Ah…” Lance whimpered and looked down at Keith with such hunger, he almost scared himself. His hips continued to move, even after his own orgasm subsided.

“Ah…” The moans were soft, barely a whisper above the wind and Lance’s grunts. Keith moved for Lance, watching his face, seeing the dark hunger inside his eyes. Every man knew it. Every man felt it. The need to take, claim, devour, and own. Lance was so gentle, those baser instincts stayed buried, until Keith brought them out with his own.

“Nnn. I—AH!” Lance lost control of his hips again as he came a second time, his eyes closing half-way, so he could still see the way Keith seemed to glow in the moonlight even as the feeling of possessing him started to cloud his senses. It was too much. Keith never looked at him with such hunger before. It seemed to transfer to Lance, and he was afraid he would never have his fill of the smaller man.

“Ah! Ah! Th..that’s it…” Keith bit down on Lance’s ear, lips moving against the delicate curve of the shell. “Fill me.”

“A…Ah. I am.” Lance managed between gasps of air. He whimpered and tried to press closer as he rode out that wave of pleasure.

Another dry climax quivered through Keith’s body, making his body tremble and shake before he finally laid back, spent, with a rasping wheeze of a breath as he tried to catch it. 

 

~~~~~~~~  
Lance pulled out of Keith and practically fell to his side, limp, panting, sheened with sweat. “Fuck, Keith…”

“You did… you fucked the hell out of Keith…” The man smirked as dreamy eyes focused up at the stars.

“I did…” Lance turned onto his side so he could watch the way the other man looked up at the sky. Each little shift of his body seemed to make him glow more as though he was made of pure light. “I didn’t hurt you?” Now that the hunger had been satiated, Lance felt himself worrying about the way he had just slammed into Keith’s body. 

“Mm. No. I wouldn’t let you hurt me.” Slowly his head turned and he cupped his hand on Lance’s cheek. “I’d never let you do anything to me, you’d regret. You gave me everything I wanted.” Keith scooted closer, his thumb brushing under his lips then giving Lance a long sweet kiss. “You’re so good.”

Lance rested his hand on the one on his cheek, and he let a little smile come to his lips. “I did? I am?” He kissed Keith back, his eyes starting to close. “Keith…I….”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I think we’re stuck here for the night. You’re not going to let me carry you back down to the shrine, right?”

“If I did do you have the energy for that?” Keith chuckled, his eyes glittering.

“I would find it…eventually.” Lance’s lips twitched into a smile and he moved himself a little closer. 

“I’m okay, right here.” Keith curled into him, his lion purring in his head. “How do you always know when I need you most?”

“I don’t. I just need you all the time, so I try to make sure I’m by your side as much as possible.” Lance wrapped his arm around Keith and held him close to his side.

“I should have come to you sooner, but with everything else…” Keith trailed off, allowing the press of Lance’s arms to comfort him. “I never wanted to kill anyone but in the wagon. I… that was the first time I intentionally…”

“I understand all too well.” Lance pressed his lips into Keith’s hair. “No one who’s a good person ever wants to kill anyone. What you did, unfortunately, was necessary. If you hadn’t, we would have died.” He moved his other arm around him and held him close. “And you’re right, you should have come to me sooner, so next time, do that. Okay? You don’t have to suffer alone.”

“It was Jin. Under that helmet. I knew him. He was a shitty person, but…”

“It doesn’t matter if it was someone you knew or didn’t know. He was paid by our enemies to kill us. And he would have done that, if you didn’t stop him.” Lance shook his head. “At the very least, he would have killed me and made you watch it, and then he would have taken you back to them, and they would have killed you. There’s no shame in being upset and a little traumatized about it.” Lance kissed the top of his head again. “But you have me to help you heal.”

Lance was right. Keith remembered the look in Jin’s eyes. The pure hatred he saw. He would not have hesitated to kill anyone in that wagon. “I do have you.” 

“Because of you, you have me.” Lance held him closer. “It will be difficult to reconcile that for a long time, and that’s okay. Just don’t do it alone anymore, okay?”

“The rest of this, together. You, me. Us.” Keith folded his fingers into Lance’s hands and brought them up to his lips. “All of us.”

“Yes.” Lance watched Keith before he pulled their hands away from his lips and kissed him. “Also, tell me things more often so Shiro doesn’t come to me because he’s been staring at you too long hm?”

Keith winced. “Oh. Yeah. The original ‘big brother’.”

Lance chuckled a little. “I think Allura has convinced him to tone it down a little.” He held Keith closer and nuzzled his face into his hair. “But for now, let’s sleep.”


	20. Asagao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ R (Suggestive)~~~~**
> 
>  
> 
>  _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Morning Glory** _Asagao 朝顔_ \- Headstrong/Willful Promise
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)

Lance’s eyes opened as the sun slowly peeked over the horizon and filtered through the trunks of the trees surrounding the hot spring. Each beam of sunlight reflected the sky’s pink and orange hues on the surface of the water, which barely rippled with the passing breeze. A few pink and white petals fell from the trees surrounding the area, and they seemed to soak up the glow of the morning, keeping the color even as they fell to the ground, to the grass, to the water. He could not remember the last time he had woken up to such a peaceful scene. Even sleeping outside back home meant heat and bugs and all sorts of unpleasant things. But this? This was like the epitome of serenity. This was what Shiro meant when he said he wouldn’t ever want to leave.

But Lance suspected most of that was because of the warm body in his arms, nestled against his chest. He held Keith closer and smiled when one of those petals landed on his hair, the pastel conflicting with the deep black of Keith’s raven locks. He pulled Keith in a little closer, nuzzling his face into that dark mop and closing his eyes again. Maybe his warmth would stave off some of the morning chill, or maybe Lance just hoped holding his lover would slow the rapid beating of his heart. Morning meant going back to the shrine and explaining their night away. Morning meant coming up with a plan to deal with the situation they were now in. Morning meant so many things that Lance wasn’t ready for, but he would have to face head on if he wanted to protect Keith in any way. He sighed and curled in closer. Maybe if he pretended it wasn’t quite morning yet, he could stay here forever.

“If you squeeze me any tighter you’re gonna be carrying me back in two-halves.” Keith whispered with a sleep heavy voice.

“Sorry.” Lance loosened his arms and sighed. “I just don’t want to let you go.”

“Don’t.” Keith turned his face to press his lips against Lance’s neck. “I sleep better like this.”

“Me too.” Lance whispered and pressed his lips against Keith’s hair. “I can’t sleep if you’re not with me.”

With lift of his shoulder Keith looked down at Lance, chuckling as a petal landed under his eye. “You’re cute.” He whispered as he kissed the blossom away with a feather soft touch.

“Only for you. Don’t let anyone else see me like that.” Lance looked up at him, his lips curving upwards before he reached up and pulled him down for a kiss.

“Nnmm.” Keith pressed over his lover, returning his kiss as his hair slipped down to mingle into the soft pink and white petals making up their bed. “We have some time.”

“We do.” Lance murmured against Keith’s lips. “But not enough time to do everything I want to do with you.” 

“How about some of them?” Keith kissed another petal away.

“Some, I can definitely do.” Lance reached for that container of salve from the night before. “Some we can still enjoy, even if it’s not all, hm?”

Rays of glittering sun danced in violet eyes as Keith gazed down at Lance. Something changed inside of him last night. Something warm and gentle flittered through his body. Keith knew he loved Lance. He knew he wanted to spend every moment of every life with him. What he felt now could not be described the same way. Anything he thought of was too simple. He didn’t know a word or words for it. But it showed in his eyes, and in the warmth of his smile.

“I love you.” Keith whispered, stroking his fingers under the fringes of Lance’s bangs.

If anything or anyone could melt Lance, it was Keith. He looked like an angel leaning over him the way he was. The sunlight formed a sort of halo around his head, and Lance smiled up at him. “I love you too.” He whispered his reply and reached up to touch the hand at his forehead. “I can’t exist without you anymore. You are so much a part of me, tattoo and power aside.” He let his fingers stroke over Keith’s cheek. 

A sigh as soft as air escaped Keith’s lips. He turned into Lance’s touch, and fluttering lashes closed with a shiver. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yes.” Lance leaned in and kissed Keith, moving himself in such a way that he could show him exactly how much more he could give. He shifted their bodies so Keith was beneath him, pillowed by the softest pink and white petals. He showered Keith’s face, jaw, and neck with feather-light kisses as he used his body to give all of his love to Keith and take all of his in return.

When they finished, he lifted himself enough to look down at the other man. Panting, sheened with sweat, Keith’s skin seemed to reflect the now-golden rays of the mid-morning sun. He was Lance’s guiding light. His love. His everything. 

Keith laid basking in the afterglow. His features soft and content with the smallest of upward curves at the corners of his lips. His pale skin and features blended with the natural pastels all around him thus making his hair a stark contrast and the deep violet of his eyes all the more wondrous and striking. Another little god to add to Japan’s distinguished list.

Lance’s fingers traced Keith’s smile, and his own lips curved in the same way. He took some time to absorb the warmth that seemed to radiate from his love. He was like the perfect juxtaposition of sunshine and twilight. “Amazing.”

“You are.” Keith kissed Lance’s fingers then nuzzled along the side to force his hand to cup his cheek.

“Oh? Was it that good?” Lance chuckled and held his cheek for a moment before he threaded his fingers into Keith’s hair. “How do you feel?”

“Mm. Content. Relaxed. In love with you.” Keith blushed as the said the words but nothing else came to mind.

If Lance had any doubt left, it was completely erased with those words, and he lowered himself to place a chaste kiss to Keith’s lips. “Then I am the luckiest man alive.” He whispered against the tender flesh before he sat up again. “However, we need to head back before they start looking for us.”

“Let them worry a little while longer.” Keith pulled Lance down to give one more long luxurious kiss, followed by several quick ones. “Don’t know how many more moments like this we’ll have. I’m willing to push it to the line and enjoy what I can.”

With a contented sigh, Lance settled back down and kept kissing Keith. “Well, I told you I would take you to see the world when all of this is over, and I will make good on that promise, and I will kiss you tons of times then, too.” he murmured against Keith’s lips before kissing him again.

“Right now, this is the only world I want.” Keith kissed him again, gently stroking his fingers over the softer skin exposed to him, but he pulled away before things could get beyond a comfortable lukewarm. “They’ll decide today what our next steps are going to be.”

“I know.” Lance sighed and sat up again, looking down at Keith with a furrowed brow. “But, whatever the decision, we’re together.” He brushed his fingers over his cheek. “Us. Them. Everyone. We will find a way to get through it together.”

“And save Sam.” Keith sat up and hugged Lance close, his eyes closing. “You’ll have to let it go. What happened. He’s a victim just like everyone else.”

Lance tensed, clenching his fists a little even though he was being hugged. “I can’t…Don’t ask me to. I can behave. I can pretend to be over it and act civil, as though it’s fine. But I can’t actually feel that way. Not yet. Not when I still see it in my head when I sleep.” He sighed and bowed his head. 

Keith tightened his arms. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong. And maybe, given some time, I will realize that Sam didn’t mean to hurt you, or was affected by whatever he was being exposed to. But I will need that time. You don’t have to like how I feel. You don’t even have to support me and let me know it’s okay to feel the way I do. You can get mad at me. You can scold me if I accidentally say something in bitterness. At the end of the day, I just need you to love me and stay with me.”

“I can yell at you for a thousand other things if I wanted, and I might. But I won’t yell at you for that. You’ve been doing everything you can and trying to be careful around Pidge. That’s all I can ask for.” Keith kissed his cheek as he pulled back, but only at arm’s reach. “I made you love me too much.” He smiled. He knew he sounded sappy, but Lance was a sappy guy. He’d appreciate Keith’s attempt.

“Yeah, I am trying. I’m not sure I’m always succeeding, but…” Lance shook his head and looked at him. “There’s no such thing as loving you too much. If anything, you deserve more of my love.” He relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders and arms, his fists unclenching. “I will give you everything. I want to give you everything.”

“I’m pretty sure you already have.” Keith pressed his nose against Lance’s, closing his eyes. “I know I have all of you.”

“Always.” Lance whispered and closed his eyes. “And I know I have all of you.”

“Are you ready? We can go at your pace.”

“My pace? You’re the one who’s probably sore.” Lance grinned. “So shouldn’t it be at your pace?”

“You think I’m not used to you by now? I can adjust.” Keith stood up and winced. “A shower would be good though. Some place to clean up.” He turned his head to the hot spring. “That won’t scald the important parts.”

Lance stood once Keith did and nodded, though he leaned down and gathered their clothes. “Yeah, but we can clean up at the shrine, right? I don’t think anyone’s going to bother us, since we’re coming back together.” He held Keith’s clothing out to him. 

“You’d think.” Keith joked as he started to dress, keeping the air light. 

“Well, if they’re smart.” Lance pulled his clothing on and smoothed it out a bit, stretching when he was done. “I don’t think Allura will let Shiro bother us, at least.”

“Shiro’s been keeping his distance.” Shiro backing off didn’t leave Keith unscathed. He missed Shiro. Yes he had had a crush on him, but it didn’t define the whole of their relationship. Shiro was a brother, a father, a friend and now their relationship was thinned. Keith needed space to breathe, but he didn’t want to be abandoned either. 

Lance shook his head. “He obviously hasn’t been if he’s the one who told me to check on you because he noticed some stuff.” He took one of Keith’s hands and squeezed it gently. “He has a lot of guilt, so he’s probably just trying to cope with it in his own way.” He couldn’t believe he was half-defending Shiro, but stranger things have happened.

“I bet you loved that.” Keith rolled his eyes as he started down the steep path to the shrine.

Lance blinked when Keith started down the path and pulled away from him. His brows furrowed and he looked at the back of his head. “What the hell does that mean?”

Keith chuckled and hopped around a tree, swinging over the branch to land in front of him but on lower ground, despite everything going on, Keith felt at home out here. In the woods his race or sexuality didn’t matter, and after unloading on Lance last night he felt lighter, happier. 

“That you’re easily jealous and protective as hell.” 

Lance was frowning as he looked down at him. “Jealous? I was defending him.” He muttered before he started down after him. 

“I know you were. And I know it’s hard for you. I want you to know that your effort is appreciated and noticed.” Keith got up on his toes and kissed Lance’s nose.

Lance pouted and looked at him, but then he took his hand again. “Then don’t let go of my hand next time…It felt like you were making fun of me.” He started down the path again, this time keeping hold of Keith.

“This hand, right here?” Keith brought the brown hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. He knew he was acting strange, softer, but after last night and this morning it seemed natural for him to want to dote on the man who was giving so much to be with him. Keith didn’t know how to reciprocate in any other way, never realizing someone could love him as much as Lance did. “It’s mine. Like every other part of you.”

“Yes, it is.” Lance watched the way Keith’s expression seemed to soften when he looked at him. He couldn’t keep the smile from his lips even if now wasn’t a good time for it. “You have all of me, so don’t let me go.” He took another step ahead and gently tugged Keith along. “We should get back.”

“You can’t blame me for stalling a little longer and not wanting to share you.” Keith leaned up and snuffled his nose against Lance’s cheek. Considering what they did last night and this morning, he figured he should feel sore or tired. Instead he had more energy than he had in months. He knew the path ahead of them would be dangerous and dark, but Lance made everything brighter. The darkest thoughts Keith could ever manifest dissipated with a simple word or gesture from him. Last night, when he was determined to belittle himself, hate himself, and start a one-man mission to destroy any chance of happiness, Lance just appeared before him. He had a knack for saving him. Uncanny.

As they approached the lonely shrine and heard the first yip of Pidge yelling at Hunk, Keith stopped and pulled Lance’s hand back to him. “Hey Lance, whatever happens or however it all goes down, I want you to know, I mean I know I say it a lot, and I mean it when I do, but I just.. I want to make sure you know that, I – “ His cheeks pinked as he tucked his hair nervously behind an ear. “I love you, and after this… if we’re able, I’ll go with you. Anywhere. Everywhere. France. England. America. Cuba. I’ll go. If that’s what you want. For the rest of my life.” Keith’s words ran together into one long grabbled and accented mess.

Lance’s body jerked back a little when Keith stopped, and he turned around to look at him. He grinned at how utterly adorable Keith was when he was nervous, but that grin soon shifted into a smile at how romantic his words were. “Keith…” Maybe it was the way the sunlight filtered between the leaves. Maybe it was because Lance’s heart was so filled with love now that the two of them connected and were in sync again. Maybe it was a thousand things, but tears spilled out of Lance’s eyes as he smiled at his love. “Yes. Yes absolutely. Everywhere together.” He wrapped his arms around Keith and kissed his forehead. “I will never leave you.”

A puff of air left Keith with a squeak as Lance hugged him. His face burned as he bowed into Lance’s chest. The thick black curtain of his hair shifting down to hide his face from the rest of the world. “You’re so damn cute.”

“You’re way cuter than me.” Lance laughed and nuzzled his face into Keith’s hair, taking a moment to breathe in his scent. “I can’t handle it.”

“You’re not standing where I am and seeing what I see.” Keith smiled with a tilt of his head. “Are we really having this conversation right now?” He arched an incredulous but amused brow.

“What, my stupid tear-streaked face?” Lance laughed. “I feel bad for you, and you absolutely started it.”

“An adorable Cuban man with the clearest blue eyes…” Keith stroked Lance’s cheek. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t need your sympathy when you make me feel like all of this…” He slipped his hand over the lion on other man’s arm. “Is just so I could end up here.”

“Well, as long as you don’t include all the pain in there too.” Lance’s tears dried up as he tapped Keith’s nose. “I never want to cause you pain.”

“The pain doesn’t matter because I have you.” 

“I found’em! They are being cute and cuddly at the front gate!” Hunk’s yell alerted the men, and with a soft sigh Keith took one more look into Lance’s face before pulling him along behind him.

“Hunk, couldn’t you have given us another minute?” Lance whined as he wiped the evidence of his tears from his cheeks and followed along behind Keith.

“Nah. Shiro was about to break the door down looking for you.” Hunk grinned at them when they ascended the stairs to the shrine.

Keith shrugged and hopped up the stairs with more vigor than he’d displayed since Lance removed him from the lab. He looked pleased. Fulfilled. Healthy. Pidge would later describe it as jocular. He opened the wooden door and came in to the rest of them, back lit by the sun. 

“You look… happy?” Shiro arched a brow.

Lance stepped right up behind Keith and looked at the others with a serene smile. He rested his hand on his partner’s shoulder as he leaned his head over it. “We’re you worried we’d look miserable?”

“Well you have looked that way the entire time we were here.” Allura’s voice was quiet, but it carried.

“We worked some things out.” Keith leaned his back into Lance.

“Great, and while you two were getting your sex lives back in line, we were figuring out how to get Dad out of the base.” Pidge pushed her glasses further up her nose. Keith debated on snapping back but the tone left her words too ambiguous to justify a snarky quip.

“So what did you figure out. We gonna just walk right up and knock on the door?” Keith asked.

“We’re not. You are.”

“What?” Keith arched a brow. 

“Hunk let us all in on a little secret about the commander and a few hobbies he takes part in.” Pidge smirked at Hunk.

“Matt discovered a couple underground pathways left over as feudal escape routes. They branch all over the city connecting the Shop.” Pidge pointed on a map. “The Okiya. And the clock tower, and the base.”

“Right, and…?” Keith waved his hand for her to continue to the point.

“There’s more going on here than just my father. Matt discovered underground fortifications all along this route, but the problem is how fortified they actually are. There’s a series of pass keys and each one is needed for a different sector. We have my father’s, and that gets us here.” Pidge pointed to the clock tower. “But we can’t get to the base.”

“Right, right and this has to do with me how?”

“The commander has a thing for Asian women.” Pidge smiled, a bit proud of herself. 

Keith snarled, he saw this coming a mile away and only needed to hear it spoken out loud. The commander’s perversions were no secret among the core rebels. “No. nonononononono.”

“You’ve done it before.” Pidge pointed at Lance.

“Yeah that was different. That was Lance. That was on my home turf. You want me to dress up and go into enemy territory right into the Commander’s office!? You have a death wish for me!” 

“If I didn’t think you could do it. I wouldn’t have asked.”

“Absolutely not. Nope Not happening. Hunk doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Nuh-uh” Lance crossed his arms and shot just about the world’s deadliest glare at his now-former best friend. 

Hunk winced a little and shrank back behind Shay. “ I mean he does like Asian women.”

“Yeah, we’re in an Asian country, and three of the four men sitting here have fantasized about or had sex with Asian women. That doesn’t mean anything.” Lance’s glare intensified and Hunk whimpered and hid behind Shay even more.

Keith blinked and did a count on his fingers subtly pointing to himself while Allura and Pidge shared a glance. 

“Does he, or does he not invite female escorts onto base?” Pidge sighed looking up at Lance. 

“According to the rumors, but I’ve never actually seen him do it.” Lance snorted. “And if he did, he certainly would have threatened them within an inch of their lives if it got out. And that’s the kind of person you want to send Keith to? Nope.”

Keith stared up at Lance then down at his hands. “If I were to do something like that, what would be the point?”

 

“To get my father out.” Pidge said softly, her shoulders slumped. “The man keeps his key card on him at all times. Someone who isn’t accused of going AWOL or attempting a mutiny, or treason, would have to get close to him.” 

“We can’t send Allura. She’s getting stronger but she’s recognizable and not Asian. Shay can’t really fight. And I’m-“

“Out of the question.” Keith answered quickly. “And you’re not exactly what I’d call Asian either.”

“But you can’t send Keith in there either. His blood is what they want. It doesn’t matter how good of a fighter he is. That’s an entire army!” Lance shook his head. “If you’re going to send anyone in, send me. There’s a reward. They’ll pull me in and be distracted.” He frowned. “Do not give them the one the really want.”

“And if they kill you on sight? The won’t know Keith as Keiko…” Pidge sighed.

Shiro remained thin lipped and silent. He didn’t like the idea any more than Lance did but he couldn’t argue against Pidge’s logic. If they gave them Lance, he wouldn’t live past the threshold. “A man shot you just for a promotion. What do you think will happen to you when they have a reason to hate you? I don’t like the idea of Keith going in, but if you go in you’ll be dead before your foot touches soil. We all know that.”

“They won’t. Not if I tell them I’ve got the location they want.” Lance shook his head, but he slumped a bit. He knew this wasn’t an argument he would win, but he would do everything possible to protect Keith. “You…can’t send him in. You just can’t.” He bowed his head and stared at the floor. “What do you think they’re going to do to him when he gets grabby and realizes Keith is a man and not a woman?”

Hunk shook his head. “Lance, there’s really no other way. We can’t leave Pidge’s dad there.”

Keith closed his eyes, his lip worried between his teeth trying to think of a way to ease his lover, express his discontent, but help Pidge, and there just wasn’t a way. “Lance-“

“We wouldn’t let him go in empty handed.” Pidge produced a vial from her overalls. It was a small and filled with a milky liquid. “Scopolamine. Extracted from ‘Angel’s Trumpet.’ It renders a person who drinks it biddable and causes memory loss. If Keith can get him to drink it…”

“And what if he can’t?” Lance sighed and turned to Keith. “What if you have to kill him, or someone else, or any of the soldiers that could go running in there at any moment?” He reached out for him and clutched his hand. “What if they try to take your blood, and I can’t get to you in time?” He could feel himself tremble, his body starting to grow cold. 

Keith squeezed Lance’s hand, feeling his fear travel through him like a spear of ice through his gut. “Is there any other way?”

“Of course. There are other ways, there are always other ways.” Pidge sighed.

“Other ways that aren’t high risk for more people.” Keith corrected.

“No.” Pidge shook her head. “I’ve gone over several possibilities in my head. This is the best way, with the least amount of impact. I don’t want to do it either, but Keith is the only one who can make it in without raising an alarm.” 

“So, as Keiko.” Keith sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Pidge was right. Keith could look the part. Keith could fight, and Keith could run. He knew the interior of the camp from his stay with Lance and he’d already snuck in and out of there once. He was the best option.

“Matt and Lance can be waiting for you outside. Hidden. If that makes it easier.”

Lance’s body sagged a bit, but he was able to keep himself upright. His hand desperately clung to Keith’s and he closed his eyes. “Red.”

“What?” Shiro had been keeping an eye on Lance, and he could feel a sliver of the pain and fear the Cuban man felt, but it was not his place to speak up about that. 

“He only looks at girls who wear red.” Lance refused to look at any of them. 

“Lance.” Keith couldn’t take it anymore and pulled Lance into a hug, whispering softly into his ear. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” Lance pressed his face into Keith’s shoulder. “It’s everyone in that base that I don’t trust.”

Keith stroked his hair. “Do you trust me to come back to you, no matter what?”

Lance nodded mutely this time, unable to get out any more words. He was on the verge of losing it, and he refused to let anyone else see any more of his distress than they already had.

“And you’ll be right there to scoop me up and hurry me back to safety.” Keith soothed. 

Another nod. Lance still trembled, but warmth was coming back to his skin.

Hunk cleared his throat from behind Shay. “He likes sake, too. The more expensive, the better. Keith could get him to drink that pretty easily if he brings some with him.”

“And that would be easy enough to do. I just need to get him to drink one saucer of sake, grab the card and run. No one alerted, no one wiser and we make it out of the area before anyone checks in on him.” Keith continued to comb Lance’s hair. “In a perfect world.” He added. He wanted to ease Lance but he wasn’t going to lie either.

Lance remained quiet and let Keith try to comfort him, though he didn’t feel any better.

“And Pidge’s Dad?” Hunk asked, finally stepping out from behind his girlfriend.

“We will regroup and go through tunnels before they are aware the keycard is gone, get my father out and head back here. Make a break for Tokyo or Yokohama.” Pidge finished. “We’re still working out that part of the plan. 

Hunk nodded. “And when?”

“Tonight. The sooner the better.”

“Are you kidding? It will be nightfall before we even get there!” Keith rubbed his temple. 

“How do you propose we get back there, formulate the exact plan, get everything ready, get to the base, perform the plan, escape the base, save Sam, and get back out of the city before morning?” Hunk stared at Pidge. “Isn’t that too much?” 

“Pidge we know you’re worried, but we can’t rush in without a concrete plan. You’re asking a lot of Keith. We at least owe him the security of timing and a plan.” Shiro eased into the conversation.

“Well I’m the only one here actively thinking about it. I’m all ears if someone wants to try.” She countered crossing her arms.

“You’re not the only one, but now that we have a basic idea, we need to talk. We obviously need to get others involved. Who can we contact about the escape?” Hunk looked around the room. “The truck we used to get here is worthless, and we can’t risk Coran if we need his geisha house as a cover.”

“We use the tunnels. I don’t see how that would be a problem. We just need to look at in a series of steps. Right? Focus on those steps. First we get the key card.” Keith tapped the map. “I get in, I get out. While I’m there, if I have time, I’ll try to pinpoint where the old man is. With that information we’ll be able to move a lot quicker. No point in worrying about keycards if the guy isn’t even on base.” Keith arched with a lazy stretch. “So worry about step one. Then plan for step two and three.”

“Yes, Are you going to use the tunnels to get out? How do you know where they are on base? Where would you come out of them?” Hunk looked at Keith. “It would be bad if all of us are waiting there for you, right?”

Lance slowly sat himself on the floor once Keith let go of him and started pouring over the map. He rested his hands in his lap and twisted his fingers together, focusing on anything but the fear that had taken root in every cell in his body. The lion on his arm shifted and chilled his skin. He couldn’t think about the bad things. He would lose himself in the what ifs if he did. This plan was stupid and reckless, but it was their only option, wasn’t it? “Too many people will absolutely draw too much attention…” He murmured, his voice strained. “I’ll go. It’s not safe if any of you go. Not with everyone on heightened alert. You all have to be as far away from the base as possible.”

Keith leaned against Lance’s shoulder. “Agreed. If everything goes as it should, I’ll walk out the same way I walked in. We can meet up after and access the tunnels from under the shop. Assuming we can get in through the rubble.”

“So you won’t be using the tunnels to get out…” Lance frowned and his fingers twisted. “It won’t be as easy as it was before, then, and we’ll have to talk about that. But no matter what, we shouldn’t meet at the shop at any time.”

Hunk slowly tilted his head. “They’ll be watching it. There has to be another place to gather. Maybe one in a place they wouldn’t be looking?”

Keith sighed. “The clock tower.”

“And you think they won’t look there?” Hunk blinked.

“They won’t think we’d be so stupid and reckless.” Lance looked over at Pidge. “Can we get there easily?”

Keith shifted his eyes to the side, his lashes thatching in a long solemn blink.

“We can. It’s standing on the old kimono shop.” Shiro whispered as he reached over to place his hand over Keith’s.

Hunk stared at Shiro for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Without being seen?”

“We… we know a way. It was never covered up. As far as we know.” Shiro spoke for Keith who didn’t lift his head. “We used to play there as kids.”

“Oh!” Pidge clapped her hands together. “The place where that fire broke out!” She caught herself a bit too late and lowered her eyes. “Yeah… I suppose since Keith originally lived in the area, there’d be more to the location, huh?”

“Yeah.” Shiro squeezed Keith’s hand again trying to ease the torment he knew to be there. 

“Okay….” Hunk waved his hand a little after exchanging a look with Shay. “Then that’s the place to meet as long as you’re all sure none of us will be seen there. We kind of stand out.” He shrugged a little and looked at Keith. “I want to make sure this is going to be something that we can all pull off. The Army is practically crawling all over the city. I need to know that you and Lance aren’t going to get killed. And I want to know why we’re planning something so dangerous when we potentially have these powers that would make this so much easier. What’s the point in having anything if we don’t use it?”

Lance snorted and stared at the tatami, his fingers twisting into the bottom of his shirt. He knew what Hunk was doing, and part of him knew he should appreciate it, but the other part of him was brought back to that day he pulled Keith out of the lab. So he just stared down at nothing.

“For Keith this kind of mission shouldn’t be a problem. He’s done reconnaissance before.” Pidge beamed proudly. “Out of all of us there’s no one better suited. Not just because he can look the part, but because he’s the most skilled. He’s fast, silent, and he can fight better than most of us and disappear before anyone knows what happens. He’ll have support. If Lance wants we can set him in up in sniper position here on the temple Pagoda.” She pointed to a five tiered building on the map, just beyond the walls. “He’ll be able to see the whole thing from his scope.”

Keith turned his head up to Lance. “Are you okay with that? You’ll see everything from a vantage point.” 

Lance looked at the map and the temple indicated, brows furrowing as he processed the distance. “No. It’s too far there. I only have the rifle I took from the base. The scope isn’t good enough to see anything from that far away. And even if it could, the place I would need to look is completely obstructed, on purpose of course.” He sighed and kept his gaze on the floor. “Plus, I already said I would go. I get that I’m not a good fighter or a sneaky person or anything, but I don’t plan on doing anything to mess it up. I know that base. I know the commander better than any of you. I don’t dislike the plan because I distrust Keith. I dislike the plan because I distrust all of them. I know what he can, and will do. I would feel better being closer, not farther.”

Keith’s lips pursed to the side and he took cautious stock of Pidge. The pintsized Italian was seething but working out her words before he went off. She had a right to. Keith didn’t stop her but he would attempt to defuse the situation. A little.

“How close do you think you can get? You said so yourself, you’re not good at sneaking.” Keith kept his tone kind, knowing the delicate touch his words needed to prevent Lance from getting wrapped up in his insecurities. 

“Lance.” Pidge started. “We are all aware of what the army base is capable of.” She appeared calm. “They took my brothers leg. And they took my mother and now they are trying to take my father. You know what they can do. I know what they’re capable of.”

“You want to go in there blasting away with powers neither of you have experimented with and alert the whole of the army and the Japanese government you have them?” She leveled her eyes at Hunk then back to Lance. “Go ahead. Try it. See how far you get when they send a swarm of those spiders at you. You’re worried about Keith now? What do you think will happen to him when the concept of ‘top secret’ is stripped away from his file?” Pidge stood up, her fist bleached white with the force of her grip. 

“Practice saying ‘I love yous’ to a mason jar, because that’s what’s gonna be left after they finish breaking him in every way they know how. And since you ‘know them so well’ I’m sure you can picture; Every. Single. Thing. They’ll do.” 

“Pidge!” Keith yelled. She went too far. “It’s not gonna happen so he doesn’t have to worry about it.”

“Woah now.” Hunk stepped away from Shay, who just remained quiet, and he rested his hand on Lance’s head to prevent the other man from jumping up and snapping. “Fine. Fine. You want to be pissed off for a stupid suggestion, fine. Be pissed off at me. It was just a question. A simple ‘you can’t’ would have been enough.”

Lance didn’t move, though, even if the hand on his head would have prevented it. He simply sat on the floor and continued to stare at the patterns woven into the tatami. His jaw set, and his lips thinned. It took everything in him to keep quiet and not snap at Pidge for being that cruel and unnecessary. She had to understand that he had no desire to save the man that almost killed Keith. One more push and he’d be out, and he’d be taking Keith with him.

Hunk lifted his head when he was sure Lance wouldn’t move, and he let out an exasperated sigh. “Do what you want.” He muttered in Pidge’s direction before he stepped away and sat by the wall, one knee bent up, his arm resting over it. 

“Guys.” Shiro sighed and stood up. “We all under a lot of stress.”

“But Shir-“ Shiro raised his hand to cut Pidge off. 

“This very dangerous. We are risking a lot. Pidge, you need to see this from Lance’s point of view. He respects your feelings about your father, but this is a man who hurt someone he cares about. You’re…” He shook his head. “We are asking a lot of him with just suggesting we throw Keith to the wolves. He wasn’t trying to upset your or insult you. Hunk and Lance are new to all of this and I’m sure they’re still digesting it. We can only ask so much of them.” Shiro placed a hand on the back of Lance’s shoulder. 

“Lance. Sending Keith in is a risk. We all know that. But of all the risks we can take it’s also the safest one. He knows what he’s doing. Your former commander isn’t even remotely as observant as you are, and Keith had you fooled. That’s why I trust this plan. As far as your place in it. You know that base best. You and Hunk. For the sake of extraction, I would like to see what you think for a primary extraction for Keith and an emergency.” Shiro gave Lance’s shoulder a gentle nudge toward the map. 

Lance said nothing and didn’t move while Shiro spoke, but at the nudge he sighed and looked over at the map. “It’s not right…” 

“What’s not right?” Shiro prodded. 

“The map.” Lance looked around before Hunk rolled over a pencil. He immediately hunched over the map, scribbling out buildings and patrol routes and replacing them with other markings. “They move the tents when the base is on high alert, so they’re closer to the inner area instead of closer to the walls.” He mumbled, drawing a line from the main entrance in the south to the permanent building in the middle. “Getting here will be easy in disguise, but this whole area is too dangerous to sneak around.” He crossed off the entire south and east side of the compound. “If you want to get out without being seen, you’ll have to go out of the north door here, which is where I’ll be waiting.” He circled a door that was offset behind several larger buildings. “These are the warehouses. This one has the supplies Hunk and I were stealing.” He glanced up at Keith. “You’ll have to take my keys, so you should cut through this building. They will check the bikes, trucks, and weapons first to make sure none are stolen. Remember, their priorities are always the vehicles and the guns.” He drew a line through the warehouse. “There’s a door behind a bunch of boxes, so you should be able to squeeze between them. It’s only a short run from the back of the warehouse to that north door. We went in that door, so you know the way out from there, right?”

Pidge leaned over the map, her expression focused as she developed mental images of everything Lance added. “I see. We would have had Keith running right into the thick of it…”

Keith didn’t look at the map. He didn’t have to. From Lance’s words he could picture compound and where he wanted Keith to go. Awed by Lance’s expression, Keith preferred to look at him. While still clouded in anger, confidence took hold of the dark-skinned man. Sure. Serious. Lance stood in the center of his element; Foresight and strategy. He planned for the worst to provide the best result. Keith pressed his chin against Lance’s shoulder as he leaned over him to see the map, the tips of his fingers sneaking into the back of his shirt to rub idle affectionate circles against the skin. 

Lance suppressed a shiver at the touches to his back, and he bit back the snippy comment he had ready for Pidge, instead he just glanced up at Hunk. The larger man nodded at him, so he looked back down at the map again. “Again, I’ll be waiting here.” He scribbled an X by the door he circled earlier and glanced at Pidge. “Your friend with the rickshaw, do you think he’ll let us borrow it?”

“The rickshaw? Why the rickshaw?” Pidge quirked a brow. She had a feeling she knew but she felt compelled to let Lance finish verbalizing his plan. 

“They won’t blame a woman for leaving base after the one who hired her passes out drunk. They won’t even suspect it. And even if that’s not the case, they won’t suspect a man taking a woman through the city.” Lance shrugged. “I can dress like a commoner. I can hide my face. I’ll wait at the rickshaw for Keith. He’ll come out the door, hop in back, and I can pull it, and get us out of there without even being noticed.”

“So, I just walk out the front doors?” Keith shifted so no one could see his hand completely slip up the back of Lance’s shirt, fingers dancing over the shallow valley of his spine.

“No. You still go out that northern door.” Lance’s voice pitched and dropped before he regained the steady control he had over it. “If they find the commander before you escape, they’ll be so busy scrambling around, none of them will actually remember if they saw you leave or not. So if they see us going away down the street in the rickshaw, it won’t be an issue. They’ll just assume someone got you out of there because he passed out.”

Keith snickered against Lance’s shoulder, continuing the little manipulations he was playing against his skin. “Sounds like a good plan to me.” A hidden note in his voice spoke in louder volumes meant only for Lance’s ears. A promise. A reward. Pride. 

Shiro arched a high brow toward his charge and Lance before he sighed. “All right. Does this sound like a plan to everyone else?”

“It should work. Strategically I can find fault with any of this.” Allura studied the map. “I do plan on being nearby. I’m not much for fighting, but I will give you my support. Now that I’m awake you should all notice that your abilities are enhanced. I would recommend a day or two to work through them and figure out your limitations.” 

“It won’t do anything to you?” Pidge asked.

“No. I will not be hindered in any way.” 

“You never really explained how any of this works or why your blood line is so… special.” Keith lifted his eyes from Lance’s face. 

“I do not know much about myself, I’m afraid. And what I do know sounds too fanciful to believe.” 

“At this point, you’d be surprised what we’d believe.”

“All I know is that it has to do with Atlantis. A city beyond its years by untold millennia. We all, in some aspect, are descendants of that time. Remnants the world could not erase.” 

“Ah.” Keith nodded his head going along with it. “I figured as much.” Nothing startled Keith at this point.

Lance snorted slightly after that snippet of conversation. He didn’t pull away from Keith as he turned his head towards Allura. “If by nearby, you mean at the clock tower with everyone, that’s fine. Otherwise, it’s not safe. Even if Shiro clings to you like he has been, it’s too dangerous for you.”

“Even with a disguise, it might be rough.” Hunk spoke quietly from his place against the wall. “The make the jerk pass out plan can only distract them for so long before they start creeping out into the city. That’ll buy us a few hours at most.”

“It should be well enough.” Allura smiled softly. “I just wish to do what I can.” 

“Then your support will be greatly appreciated.” Keith smiled toward her before turning his attention back on Lance. “When would be a good time to strike? Coran is still waiting to hear about a summons to the base from the Okiya’s Okaasan.”

“Ideally, the night after tomorrow night. Any earlier would be much riskier.” Lance shook his head. “But the new leave cycle should start in two days. Some will be leaving, some will be returning. But they won’t be at their best.”

“But-“ Pidge bowed her head.

“I know it’s not ideal for you Pidge. But this is the best chance we get for getting your father out of there alive along with everyone else.” Shiro kneeled down in front of her, and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We can do this. We just have to be sure we are using our heads and not just our emotions. Patience yields focus.” 

“I hate that saying.” Pidge pouted knowing he was right.

“I know. Only because you know I’m right.”

Keith nestled his face into Lance’s neck, watching Shiro comfort Pidge brought back a lot of familiar memories. Shiro was everyone’s big brother and as long as they had him everyone knew they’d somehow make it through this. 

“If we could find out where Sam is being held before we head out, that would be better.” Hunk murmured. “Someone might slip up. And then maybe we could get this all done quicker.”

“The only way we’d hear anything is if one of the girls tells Coran something.” Lance arched a brow. “If they hear it from one of the men on leave. And Coran’s not going to hide that from us, right? Not when he has Matt in his care.”

“We shouldn’t risk them like that. If they know anything. They’ll be targets. The fewer people involved the better. We’d still need the key card, so knowing wouldn’t change that fact.” Keith slid the back of his nails down Lance’s side. “I trust Pidge and Lance’s plan. Let’s keep it simple and get it done.”

“I just meant if they overheard, but yeah, you’re right.” Lance nodded and pressed back against Keith a little. 

“All right. Then we have until the night after tomorrow. Everyone get some rest. Hunk, Lance, and Keith I would like to see you three practicing with your abilities and see what you can do.” Shiro sat back down by Allura, smiling as she curled into him.

Pidge’s pout turned into a smug smirk knowing full well why she wasn’t bunched in with the group of them. 

“Oh and Pidge?”

“Huh?” She turned her head to Shiro.

“You’re going to train them.”


	21. Azami

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the wait. Sorry for not posting last week but RL has been doing a great job of kicking me in the arse lately. 
> 
>  
> 
> **~~~ Mature content (Not explicit sexual content, possible trigger for aggressive force )~~~~**
> 
>  
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Thistle** _Azami アザミ_ \- Independence, Strict, Misanthropy, Do Not Touch
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)

“Why did I let them talk me into this?” Keith sighed, shaking his head as he stepped out of the extravagant bath. Powders, oils, and flower petals swelled with the rippling waves troubled by his exit. He soaked enough. He washed enough. He needed to coat and cover every last male defining scent and any hint of his stay in the woods. 

He missed it already. The sakura, the cattails, the chirping insects and the sounds reminding him of freedom. He could have spent forever out there; drawing wildlife, trying to capture every last aspect of a world he’d taken for granted until it provided him with the solace he needed. And now, here they were.

Their ragtag group had secured safe passage back into Kyoto last night with Matt keeping watch and Coran giving them shelter at the Okiya. Most of the group kept to the lower levels, hiding away in secret rooms and cellars. Keith would have loved to have been alongside them, but he had a different mission.

In a couple hours he was to seduce, drug, and steal from a United States Colonel. The ways the plan could fail were immeasurable. Keith knew it was going to fail. There was only one way it could succeed. Keith had confidence in his abilities but not in getting the objective done in the way everyone hoped. He could improvise. Keith didn’t need plans. He didn’t need maps. He didn’t need or care for step by step instructions. The details slowed him down, and he’d seen several fatalities created by the ‘stick to the plan’ mind set. Plans had a purpose. They operated as a rough draft and to calm the fears of others.

Others like Lance. Keith traipsed into the waiting room, a red short robe around his body. Made for a woman, the silk fabric hung a few centimeters above his knees. “Lance?” Keith kept his jaw from hanging slack. Lance sat on the floor of the main room, his bent leg rapidly tapping on the floor in nervous energy. Keith was admittedly surprised to see him instead of one of the usual helpers, but he wouldn’t argue. “Did you kick Nao out?” He smiled, referencing his usual attendant. 

“Yes.” Lance did his best to keep his eyes in his head as he looked up at Keith. That man really had no idea how attractive he was, did he? And why this was such a bad idea. The only reason Lance was even going along with it was because they really had no other option. But it didn’t sit well at all, and his stomach rolled and churned as he thought about sending Keith in there, even in such a disguise. 

It didn’t matter that they had a loose plan. It didn’t matter that he gave up the best information he could to ensure Keith’s safety. What mattered is that they were making his lover march into the den of the wolves, without any backup, because it was the ‘only way’ to save Sam. When was potentially sacrificing someone for someone else ever a good idea? But Lance kept his mouth shut the entire journey back to Kyoto. There was no point in saying anything. They all knew how he felt, and they all knew it didn’t matter. He had to accept that at some point too. He just didn’t want to.

He stood and walked over to Keith, lifting a hand to his cheek and touching it. “If everyone’s going to make me give you to another man, I can at least make sure you don’t look as pretty and perfect as she would have.” His lower lip stuck out a bit. “Can’t have you actually seducing someone else, now can I?”

A soft gasp came from Lance’s touch. Keith fluttered his eyes shut, long lashes lacing together. “That’s the point, isn’t it? Get him to lower his guard, drug him, grab the key, and race back with you.”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to look so irresistible that he jumps on you and tries to touch you. I’m the only one allowed to do that.” Lance murmured and leaned in. “Only me.”

“You’re managing right now.” Keith smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but his sentence faded into air adding to its weight when Lance leaned in to share his breath. 

“Barely.” Lance whispered, licking Keith’s lower lip. “If I can’t be with you, let me protect you in my own way, okay?”

“You are a good person, and that’s why you’re here now.” Keith kissed him, his soft lips leaving the taste of sake between them. “You were drinking? You really hate this.” He placed his hand on Lance’s chest. “I won’t stop you from doing what you have to do.”

“I was…And I do,” Lance admitted before kissing Keith again. “And thank you.” He whispered against his lips before he stepped back. “I know you won’t want it, but I’m going to give you a pistol. You shouldn’t need it, but…” He sighed and looked down for a moment, before he looked at him again. “You may refuse to use it, but at least take it.”

“And where do you propose I hide it?” Keith arched his brow.

“Here.” Lance slid his hand over one of Keith’s bare thighs. “If he even gets close to touching here, you’d probably kill him anyways, right?” He arched a brow. “Though he shouldn’t be touching you at all.”

“Eng,” The whimper left Keith unabated as his leg turned toward Lance’s caress. “He shouldn’t get that close. No. You should put it on me then. I’m no good with that kind of stuff.” 

“And that’s why I’m here.” Lance pulled his hand back from Keith’s thigh a little more slowly than he otherwise should have, but he grabbed the pistol and holster. “Let’s hope you don’t need it at all.” He untied Keith’s robe and wrapped a thin leather belt around his waist, securing it before he wrapped the garter-holster around his thigh, securing the pistol safely. He kept his gaze on what he was doing to keep Keith, and himself, from being too aware of how naked Keith actually was under that now open robe.

“Cold!” Keith gasped as Lance holstered the gun, and he felt the steel against his bath-warmed flesh. He moved around a little, making sure the contraption didn’t hinder or chafe his skin. The buckles pinched, turning his skin a soft irritated pink. He could ignore it.

“When you’re done and back in my arms, I promise I will kiss all of those little pink marks and make them better.” Lance grinned a little as he straightened up and carefully nudged the little robe off Keith’s shoulders. “Let’s get you dressed, all right?” 

“Doing all you can to make sure I do this quick, huh?” Keith pulled his hair down into semi wet curls to the middle of his back. The ebony locks highlighted the sensual curve and the inner slope all humans have just above their waist to drive other humans crazy.

“Can you really blame me? You know I hate this idea.” Lance helped him pull on the first layer of the kimono, since they had agreed to make it look formal, but keep it practical, so Keith could escape as quickly as possible. He tied it closed and looked at him, brows furrowing. “You want to do this quick too, don’t you?”

“I do.” Keith’s skin prickled with the slow slide of the nagajuban. The silk teasing the soft hairs around his arms, eliciting the smallest gasps. The sound came out delicate and a little shy as if the first layer started to awaken the maiko inside Keith. 

“If you’re too sexy, I won’t be able to control myself, and we’ll need another plan.” Lance shook his head and looked at him before he grabbed the next piece of fabric. “You only wanted that and then the top one, right?” He held the red kimono out. While it wasn’t as elaborate as the blue one Keith had gotten for Lance, this one still had an air of high-class beauty to it. Red with pink and white sakura petals seeming to float to the bottom hem with the same grace they did when falling from the trees to the surface of the hot spring by the shrine. 

“I need the hiyoku.” Keith pointed to another robe laying in the corner of the room. A deep crimson red, matching the shade of a Geisha’s lips. 

“Can you move with all of it on?” Lance rested the kimono back on its stand and took that other robe, holding it up. “This isn’t too heavy?”

“I’ve run through the streets of Kyoto in full regalia.” Keith smirked proudly. “I should say the roof tops. I’ll be fine with another robe.”

“Okay.” Lance just nodded as he helped Keith put that crimson fabric on. 

Keith captured Lance’s hand at his shoulder, holding it against him. “Remember my promise. After this I’ll go anywhere you want.” He turned his head down and kissed the back of his hand as a prince would in a formal court. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Then you better come back to me.” Lance murmured and leaned in, kissing Keith before stepping back and getting that kimono again. “All in one piece. I can only heal so much.”

“That’s the goal.” Keith shifted his shoulders and adjusted his posture as Lance placed the last kimono around his body. The fine perfumed silk wafted up to his nose, making it scrunch a tickle as he looked down at the garment. “Another one of Shiro’s.” He admired the detailed blossoms and how each petal shifted in the silk like caught in a breeze. “He does amazing work.” Keith’s voice softened with a practiced feminine speech pattern.

“The obi needs to be placed next. The one made for me will have an under corset sewn inside. Those strings will need to be tightened.” 

Lance snorted a bit at Keith’s change in tone, but he didn’t otherwise acknowledge it as he wrapped the obi around him and tied it as Nao had explained. “Like this, right?” He mumbled, his forehead resting on one of Keith’s shoulders as he finished positioning the sash.

“Don’t be gentle with me.” Keith whispered, well aware of how his words sounded as he spoke them into Lance’s ears. “You’ll have to be rougher and tighten the sash more. Real women have hips, so we have to create the illusion. I can take it.”

“Then why are you talking to me like you can’t?” Lance sighed and tightened it, yanking a bit and grunting as he was able to get the sash to give Keith the illusion of a thinner waist, and therefore wider hips. 

“Hmn?” Keith blinked, turning to look up at Lance, his hair splayed over his shoulders with small dry tuffs curling up at his cheeks. “I will be okay.” He stepped away and sat himself on the floor before a set against the wall mirror with a small makeup kit to his left and a cloth of hair tools to his right. 

Lance stood there and watched Keith settle before the mirror. He felt something pull in his chest, and he clenched his fists a little. “I know, but…”

“It’s all an act, Lance.” Keith said, placing a pin between his lips to gather his hair up in his hands. With practiced ease he stuck the first few locks in place. “You have the real me. Remember that.” 

I know that too. But I don’t even want to give the acting you to anyone else.” He sighed and moved behind him and helped him pin his hair up. “I’m too selfish to be okay with this, but I’m doing it for your sake. You’d be pissed at me if I threw a fit.”

Keith’s hands dropped into his lap as he let Lance take over. Despite the conversation he found a fond smile curling his lips. Lance’s hands were gentle and knew how to pull his hair up without tugging or ripping. “You did this for your sisters, didn’t you?” 

Lance’s hands stopped for a brief moment before they resumed their actions. “Yeah…” His voice was quiet. He knew what Keith was doing. He was trying to change the subject to something more pleasant, but also connect more to Lance at the same time. He couldn’t fault him for it. If Lance was in his position, he’d probably do the same. “When you get back to me, I’ll bring you to meet them.” He whispered. 

“Do you think they’ll like me? Sisters are protective of their brothers.” Keith arched an eyebrow. “Matt brought a girl who Pidge hated to the shop, and she made the tea machine chase her out of the store.” Keith chuckled, finding Lance’s reflection in the mirror. 

“I don’t think you’d need to worry about that with my sisters. If anything, they’ll think I did something horrible to you, and I’ll be the one chased out of the house.” Lance looked over Keith’s shoulder and managed a slight smile as he finished pinning up his hair. “There.”

“Oh really? Your reputation is that bad, hm?” Keith jerked his head from right to left to make sure his hair stayed in place, and he pulled down a few strands to curl them along the side of his face. “The hair pin.” Keith pointed to an extravagant golden hair piece. Set around a tiny amber, pink and white pears fixed into iridescent petals creating a perfect cherry blossom. Three shaped their way down the pin while small petals trailed down five golden threads. “The most important piece.” 

“No. But you’re pretty, and they like pretty things.” Lance reached over and took the pin, blinking when he only seemed to get half of it. He looked down at the small exposed blade and laughed a little. Typical Keith. “Did you wear something like this every time you met with me?” He fixed the ornament before carefully setting it in Keith’s hair, accenting the style, but also leaving it easy for him to access.

“Hmm?” Keith smirked. “Like what?” He turned at his hips and smiled up at Lance, feigning innocence. “What would a pretty thing like me want with a sharp pointy metal stick.” 

Lance looked at him flatly. “Keith…” He shook his head and sat back, resting his hands on the floor behind him. 

That chiming laugh filled the room as Keith crawled over to him. “At first. It was all part of Coran’s security. But after I just wanted to make sure I was pretty enough for you.” He kissed his nose. He wanted to ease the air between them. The words didn’t feel natural. Too flirty. Too flippant. Keith needed to do it for Lance and himself.

“So you had a knife in your hair every time? Even after?” Lance pouted. “I don’t know how I feel about that.” He puffed his cheeks out even though Keith kissed him, probably to ease him. 

“I said at first.” Keith pulled on Lance’s ear before he sat back. “Open up those ears.”

Lance whimpered. “I thought you meant after you still wore them but only because they were pretty.” He looked at Keith and pouted again. “Though at least you didn’t stab me, so thank you for that.”

“Coran made them. So I have no idea if they’d only just stab someone… or worse.” Keith winced. 

“Okay okay.” Lance held his hands up. “Enough of that. We need to finish up and get you out of here.” He reached into his pocket and handed him a set of keys. “Here. Tuck these somewhere safe.”

“Umm.” Keith looked over his kimono and pursed his lips to the side. 

Lance arched a brow. “They’re small enough to go in there aren’t they? Or what should I do with them?”

“Ah!” Keith swiveled his body around with a delicate swish of silk and lifted the layers of the kimono up to his thigh showing the garter belt and gun holster Lance strapped to his body. “There’s a pouch here.” He turned his thigh, so he was laying on his side and holding the fabric out to keep them from creasing. “There.”

Lance nodded and took the three master keys and carefully tucked them into that pouch. “Those will get you through any of the wall exits and the warehouses.” He settled back and allowed Keith to straighten up again. “I’ll let you finish getting ready. I’ll be downstairs waiting with the rickshaw to take you there, okay?”

“Okay.”

\-----

Keith was not okay. For the hundredth time in as many minutes he berated the stupidity of the plan in his head. It would have been easier to dive in, start massive explosions, get a diversion going, and get the fuck out. Instead he sat in demure silence on the edge of a stiff couch. The smell of stale cigars wafting up from the cushions mixed with Keiko’s unfamiliar perfumes, creating a scent Keith associated with back tavern darkened corners. A full crystal craft of sake sat upon a heating plate. The Colonel planned on an eventful evening, and Keith wanted none of it. 

His fingers rolled Pidge’s vial between his knuckles. He could dump it in there, offer a drink and be out the door. Keith shook his head in a jingle of ornaments. He couldn’t trust that. If the Colonel didn’t want to drink right away or demanded Keith drink, he’d be trapped. Keith didn’t know the Colonel well enough to make any kind of judgement calls. 

Keith stared down the reflective coffee table surface. His lightly made up face stared back at him with woe filled eyes. A special request. The Colonel didn’t care for the white doll-like makeup of a geisha. He wanted to see real flesh and real color. It didn’t take Keith long to figure out that this man didn’t want a geisha. He didn’t care about the poise or elegance of the living Japanese art style. He wanted a pretty exotic woman to warm his bed and then be gone by morning. 

Keith growled under his breath and squeezed the vile tighter in his hand.

“Keiko, was it?” The uniformed man made no secret of the way he looked over that body that sat perfectly poised on his couch. “I assume alcohol is too strong for your delicate tastes?” He nodded slightly to the crystal decanter. “The last girl brought some of the most exquisite sake, but she didn’t drink any of it. I assume it’s the same for you?” He sat on the couch and leaned in just slightly. “I suppose we should get right to it then? Why waste time on small talk?”

Keiko’s cheeks flared pink, and she bowed her head to look slightly away. “Is small talk really that bad?” She flashed those fathomless eyes up at the Colonel, their violet hue accented by deep green eyeshadow. Pity for every woman who had come here before him roiled through Keith’s gut. The grinding nausea mutated into rage when Keith noticed the glinting gold wedding band on his left hand.

“I suppose not, but that’s not why you’re here, is it?” The Colonel scooted closer and reached out to rest his hand on Keiko’s thigh, uncaring of the band that glinted on his finger. “You’re here for something much more fun than talking.”

Keith’s eyes flashed, fire rising and twisting. The Colonel’s touch made his skin crawl, like a thousand tiny spiders spilling over and into his flesh. So unlike Lance. Lance’s fingers were like the kisses of a summer rain; gentle, refreshing, filled with all he needed for life. Keith titled his head as he let the memory override reality. 

Keith figured the innocent and shy act would get him nowhere. Americans had a thing for strong, forward women. Why play the fawn when you can become the wolf?

Keith put himself through this for a reason. He was going to rescue Pidge’s Dad. He had to get serious.

“Believe me Colonel. What I have in mind is a lot more entertaining than ‘talking.’” Keiko slid off the couch and stood with a small jutting of her hip. 

“Besides, doesn’t anticipation make the result so much better?”

“You must not have dealt with many men.” The Colonel arched a brow and watched Keiko move. “Or at least you’ve been lucky with only patient ones. I am not a patient man.” He stood and stepped towards her. “And it would be best if you didn’t make me wait.”

“Tsk. Colonel.” Keith pushed his lower lip out in a pout. “We’re not so different. You know, but I see the women you’ve been with before weren’t up to your standards, Colonel. You enjoy the hunt. The kill. What’s the joy in any of that if the prey just rolls over?” Every word stung like acid on Keith’s tongue.

With that step back, the man stepped forward. “Sometimes, I don’t mind if they just roll over.” He reached out and grabbed Keiko’s wrist. “I’m not in a very good mood, woman. Don’t play with me.”

Keith didn’t flinch when the Colonel grabbed his wrist. His eyes narrowed into sultry slits. “Colonel, please relax. Your job is high pressure enough. Does everything have to be so? Can you spare sometime and enjoy the moment. You’ll scare me if you come at me so forcefully.” Keith’s mind worked quickly and ran through scenario after scenario. An idea struck him.

“Have you ever experienced the Japanese art of Nuru?” Keith slipped his hand up the Colonel’s arm and effortlessly moved behind him. “Do you know what it is?” He took a deep breath and began to rub his fingers into the edges of his shoulders, finding pressure points and watching at the muscles relaxed and eased down his shoulders. 

For a moment, the Colonel was completely taken off guard when the girl moved and those fingers came to his shoulders. “Scare you? What?” He snorted. “If you’re trying to put me in a better mood or delay the inevitable, don’t think this will work.”

Keith smiled and made sure the slow heat of the expression was felt in his voice. “You paid a lot more for me than the typical. I’m making sure you get what you’re owed. Japanese pride themselves on customer satisfaction.” Keith purred the last word out. 

“I want to make sure you get every last bit of what’s promised to you.” His fingers continued to move, carefully guiding the Colonel back to the couch where Keith sat on the arm behind him.

“Nuru is the art of using ones whole body to massage the body of another.” Keith’s other hand grasped the drug again, holding the bile back in his own throat.

The man grunted when he sat on the couch, but he didn’t protest beyond that. “And it does what, exactly, except delay what I want?”

“Eases tension. Clears the mind. Turns me on.” Keith bit his cheek. “Two bodies slowly gliding over each other.” Keith shuddered, but made the sound come out like an excited shiver. “Like I said. I’m not like the other women you’ve brought in here.”

“That’s true. None of them have ever been so bold before.” The Colonel shifted and turned his head to look at her. “The only way you can ease my tension is if you’re beneath me.”

“Just a little longer, Colonel.” Keith’s lower lip came out in another crimson pout. “Or are you telling me I’m not worth the wait?”

“I don’t know if you’re worth the wait because you’re making me wait.” The Colonel grunted again and reached to pull Keiko off the arm of the couch. “Show me your worth.”

Keith gasped, balance failing him. His arm flailed and gripped the hanging wall map, bringing it down under him. When the chaos settled, and Keith found himself face down against the torn paper and couch cushions. Hot angry eyes darted up at the Colonel before he turned his head away and into his sleeve allowing a tremor to rock through him. He needed to collect himself.

The Colonel was already unbuckling his belt when he pulled Keiko down onto the couch, his eyes narrowed and dark. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.”

Keith’s mind spun, rage flashed hot and heady making his body quiver, while a cold clawing weight dug into his stomach. How many women found themselves as he was now. How many woman did this wretch hurt? He could see it in his eyes, he could hear it in his quickening breath. Rendering another person, a person deemed weaker than himself, helpless. Forcing them to his mercy. 

No one would describe Keith as a moral crusader. He wasn’t out to defend women from beasts and monsters like this. He knew women who were far stronger than himself who’d have a man like the Colonel in tears.

Keith turned those hot fiery eyes back up at the man. The lamps in the room flickered and dimmed. The Colonel had a mission to protect people. He was supposed to be the beacon of morality these men had to follow. 

The Colonel was no leader. Keith jerked up and took the man by his throat, squeezing the wind pipe preventing a yell. “Move. And I’ll crush your throat.” 

The man’s eyes widened at the strong grip to his throat. He opened his mouth to cry out, but the grip she had prevented him from doing so, so he grabbed her wrist and tried to make her let go.

Keith gave the Colonel’s hand little more than a bored glance. “You like making people helpless? You like using power and influence to crush people who can’t fight for themselves?” Keith’s hand tightened as the man stared dumbly at woman holding him.

“Answer me.” He hissed.

He tried to say something, but only a raspy breath of air came out as he clawed at that wrist.

“Answer. Me.” The lamps blazed behind Keith casting a demonic shadow over his sharp features. “You know how to use your head don’t you?”

The Colonel nodded, then shook his head, eyes wide.

“Making people scared? Controlling them. Then ditching them. How many women left here alive.” Keith snarled, popping the cap of the tube in his hand.

The man gripped his wrist again and tried to squeak out an ‘all’ but he couldn’t. His legs thrashed a bit as he struggled for air.

Keith squeezed harder. “Don’t lie to me. How many have you killed?”

He shook his head, eyes starting to bulge from their sockets as he gasped for breath. He flung his arms and legs out, knocking over the small table with the sake.

“Ah-Ah.” Keith pressed his hand into the crook of the Colonel’s jaw, letting up on his wind pipe. “Breathe. Breathe. It’s okay…” He soothed, his voice cold and razor-edged. He lifted the plant resin and squeezed his fingers behind his jaw forcing his lips to part. 

“Swallow.” Keith hissed as he dumped the contents into his mouth. 

Not that he had a choice. The Colonel was barely able to gasp a mouthful of air before that liquid was poured into his mouth. He swallowed, sputtering when it was down his throat. “What are yo-“ His eyes widened once more before they rolled back and closed, his body going limp.

Keith let the body slump to the couch, slipping his hand from his neck, revealing burned and blistered flesh around his throat. He stepped back, his eyes wide as realization struck him hard and heavy in the bottom of his gut. 

“No time.” He chided himself, shaking away his guilt and shame for now. Quick fingers search the Colonel’s body, finding the metal keycard chained to his dog tags. “Easy enough.” 

Keith shouldered out of the kimono and flipped the under layer around. The underside of the crimson robe was made of black cotten, with a sewn in hood. He ditched the rest of the clothing into a folded sack and slipped out the window behind the hedges. 

Soldiers marched through the grounds, feet slopping on fresh mud, but their well-trained movements were predicable. Keith snaked his way between buildings and tents, laying low in the shadows. He made it with only three rows remaining before the outer wall when the first alarm wailed. 

\-----

“Fuck.” Lance muttered under his breath when that alarm sounded. He knew this wouldn’t be so easy, but if the alarm was going off, Keith should have at least succeeded with the first stage of the plan. He grumbled and set the rickshaw down in the shadows by the wall and that secondary door Keith was supposed to use. He pulled Hunk’s keys from his pocket, quietly unlocking the door and slowly pushing it open. None of them would be checking this door. Not yet. Not if they were looking for the “geisha” that attacked the Colonel. They’d rush towards the front gates first. He crept towards the warehouse, hoping that Keith made it there. He opened the door quietly and stepped inside. “Keith?” Nothing. No sound. No disturbance of the dirt or muddy footprints on the floor. Keith hadn’t made it.

With another light curse he crept back out and ducked among the hedges, glancing around for any sign of Keith. Nothing. Not in this area anyway, so he moved to the next, his heart pounding as he got closer to where the majority of the base activity was sure to be. In the distance, he could hear soldiers shouting, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He didn’t hear much of anything as those voices became more muffled the more distance that Lance put between himself and them. 

And it was then that he noticed it. There was no patrol. He was dangerously close to the air bike hangar, but there wasn’t a single soldier in sight. He slumped as he slinked towards the building. Keith didn’t go in there, did he? One of the few places Lance said was too dangerous? But he knew the answer to that as soon as he saw the two patrolmen unconscious under some shrubbery. One of them was missing his coat. Lance let out a silent groan when he saw it crumpled on the ground beneath a broken window. Looking around, he carefully climbed into that window, pistol drawn as soon as his feet hit the floor. “Keith?” He whispered, eyes trying to adjust to the darkness.

Slender tight arms threw themselves around Lance’s waist. The grip harder and stronger than such small arms should allow. 

It took all his willpower not to yelp when that happened, but Lance rested his hands on the arms at his waist and he looked at the person clinging to him. “H…Hey…” 

Keith stole one moment to curl deeper into Lance’s back, arms trembling. “I… Lance… I… he… the Colonel. I…”

“Did he hurt you?” Lance sank to the floor and pulled Keith into his arms, holding him close for a moment. “I’m here. You’re okay. I’m not going to let you go.”

“No. I’m fine. I just… I… wanted… I had his throat was in my hand. I was so mad. I burned him. I became cruel…I… Lance… what the hell is wrong with me?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong with you.” Lance held him. “He’s a bad person. And you didn’t kill him. So you did nothing wrong. But we do have to get out of here, okay?”

“I tortured him Lance.” Keith looked up at Lance catching his eyes. “I…” 

Lance looked at him, brows furrowed before he cupped Keith’s cheeks in his hands. “Keith, look at me. You’re not cruel, okay? You clearly didn’t enjoy it. If you were cruel, you’d like what you did. You didn’t.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “We can talk more later, okay? We have to get out of here and find Sam.”

“How? This place is crawling now. The only way we’re getting out of here is if we…” Keith looked around the hanger. This room. He’d been here before. “..go straight up… Lance!” Keith pointed toward the far wall. Sitting partially covered by a tarp with a shipping tag is hanging from its gear shift sat a lone bike, separated from the rest. Sleek black paint made the details bleed into the shadows.

“The air bikes. That’s the N8-70-x50. It’s fast. It could get us out of here in no time.” Keith swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I can take it. I mean we’re already in deep. What’s a little robbery along with assault?”

“That is the worst idea…” Lance muttered. “But also our best one. And what choice do we have? Can that thing hold both of us?” He looked at Keith before he crept to the bike he indicated. 

“Probably not. But we won’t know until we try.” Keith’s eyes practically glittered they gazed over the bike. His hand running over the smooth chrome black surface as if gliding his fingers down a lover’s spine. 

“I trust you.” Lance rested his hand on Keith’s back before he sighed. “get it started. We have to go as soon as open the bay doors…”

Keith purred as he slipped his body over the seat of the bike, the sound and feel of the leather settling under him sent a shiver over his skin. His kimono riding up over his spread thighs as he settled in.

“Nice.” He whispered, finding gloves in a compartment and removing goggles from around the gear shift. “Go to another bike and get geared up. It’s going to be a short but cold ride.” 

Lance grabbed the gear from another bike and pulled it on as he walked to the lock for the big doors. “This is going to be loud when it starts to open. So we will have to get out as soon as we can fit through. Everyone will come running.” He glanced around, but then smirked. “Though, they can’t follow us if we burn all of the other bikes, right?”

Keith smirked, the crimson lipstick making the expression seductive in the dark. There was that wicked confidence again and Keith clamored to it. He wondered if Lance knew how he looked when he let go of his self-consciousness. He stood taller, his features sharper, cocky, Keith would dare to say radiant. 

“It will keep them busy.” 

Completely oblivious to the way Keith was practically devouring him with his eyes, Lance nodded, but before he hit the button for the door, he grabbed a fuel canister, opening it and dumping green viscous fluid on the floor, near those “widowmakers” as Keith had called them the night he brought him here. His nose winkled as the smell of kerosene and some other chemical he couldn’t place offended his senses, but the can was empty, and the puddle was growing. A quick spark, and the first bike would catch, then the next, and boom.

He walked back to Keith and arched a brow at the way the smaller man was already ready on the bike, engine revving, his legs exposed as he tucked the fabric of the kimono underneath him. Of course he had to do that. There was no way he’d be able to fly if he didn’t. “Ready?” He slammed his fist on the button to open the door and slid behind Keith, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Go,” he whispered into his ear.

“Not yet.” Keith licked his lips and leaned forward, practically cooing at Lance’s breath against his ear.

“Wait for it.” Sweat beaded down the side of his face as a fanged smile parted his lips, waiting for the perfect timing. He crouched lower, pressing back against Lance as his shoulders shifted like a lioness stalking prey. Everything came down to timing.

“NOW!” The air bike kicked off the ground, the kickback nearly tossing both of the passengers. Heads ducked low to avoid getting slammed by the sliding door as Keith went full throttle in a parallel line to wall.

Soldiers scurried around until they became little more than ants under foot. The two interlopers were well out of range of their bullets. When the first set of explosions shook the earth tossing blue flames and smoke high into the air, they had sped past any chance of capture or visual range. 

Lance held Keith’s waist and ducked his head as the wind whipped against them, catching in Keith’s hood, though it was mostly held on with his goggles. Stray wisps of his hair came out from that half-covering and waved carelessly in the wind.

He reached his hand down and fumbled for the gun at Keith’s thigh, fingers trembling as he tried to get a grip on the weapon. They were high enough that he wouldn’t need it yet, but they wouldn’t be able to keep this height for long, and if someone managed to follow them, that person would need to be dispatched quickly. Two guns were better than one.

Keith smiled as Lance’s arms tightened around him. The man had never been this high outside of the safety of a Zeppelin, and if his own hands weren’t currently in a white knuckled grip around the handles of the bike, he would have tried to soothe man. 

They were airborne for less than twenty minutes when they set down on the wooded side of Mt Hiei and away from the chaos of the city. On a moonless night, no one would have been able to track them with Keith going fullout, even with their combined weight. 

Keith turned the engine off, and let out a purring ‘good kitty.’ as he stoked the side of the and with a sudden an exuberant whoop he twisted to flop back on the handle bars excited nervous laughter exploding maniacally from his body. 

“Holy shit! Lance! We did it! We actually fuckin’ did it!” 

Lance was panting as the adrenaline rushed through him, and as Keith turned around to face him, still straddling the machine, giving him a glorious view of those porcelain thighs, reddened from the cold and the wind, Lance’s eyes darkened. “We did it.” He said, his hands reaching forward and sliding over Keith’s flesh. “That was insane.” He slid his hands up to his hips and pulled them forward, so Keith was pressed against him more than he was pressed against the bike. 

“AH!” Keith arched as Lance dragged him over the smooth hump of the fuel tank. He teased a grind with the first shock of Lance pressed tight between his thighs. Keith’s laughter died down with a roll of his bottom lip between his teeth. Taunting. Excited. Wanting.

“That was the craziest thing I’ve ever done…” His flesh was so cold it prickled against the returning heat and the press of Lance’s hands. The sensation thrilled him.

“Come here.” Keith beckoned. He looped his hands between the windscreen and the handlebar, pinning himself down. They didn’t have a lot of time but Keith couldn’t help himself. 

Lance pressed himself against Keith and leaned over him, his lips searching for whatever flesh he could warm up. “Fuck, Keith.” He murmured as he pushed forward to grind against him, the tingles of each movement shooting through his body and thawing the chill that had set in him when they escaped. 

“You want to?” Keith purred in his ear as he shifted his hips up. 

“Yes. Do you?” Lance pressed closer and slid a hand under the fabric that still kept Keith’s modesty, touching his heated flesh. “I’ve never felt anything like that before, and now I can’t help wanting to feel you.”

“Kiss me. Touch me.” Keith squirmed. Knees bending to cradle Lance’s sides. They had limited time out in the middle of nowhere, but Keith didn’t care. After everything he went through tonight, he needed this. Lance could erase the crawling touch of the Colonel and ease the adrenaline fueled rush burning his body.

“Gladly.” Lance pressed his lips to Keith’s as he pulled himself out of his pants, groaning and moving to hold the sources of their heat together. They didn’t have enough time to go all the way, but they could at least feel each other. 

“Mm! Ah! Good! So good Lance!” Keith keened, his legs tightening around him as they rocked their bodies together. They kissed when they could and panted broken names when they couldn’t. Grinding out their high until heat spilled forth from their arched forms leaving them sated as Keith’s lips continued to kiss and linger against Lance’s mouth. 

Lance moaned into each of Keith’s kisses even as their bodies came down from that peak of pleasure. One of his hands clutched at Keith’s hip as he struggled to catch his breath. “Nnn. We have to go.” He said, kissing him again. “They’re probably going nuts since we blew up half the base.” Another kiss. “Though at least they won’t bother with the clock tower.” A third kiss.

“No.” Keith kissed back. “They shouldn’t. Mm.” He gripped his hair and kissed again. “We caused a...” He paused to lick over Lance’s lip. “Distraction. Nmm… they’ll be busy for a while.”

“We did.” Lance nipped at Keith’s lower lip before he pulled back, eyes still dark. “I want to fuck you so badly right now, but we need to behave and go.” He grunted a little as he forced himself to pull his body back as well. 

“When you say things like that...” Keith gasped and pulled himself up, straddling Lance’s lap. The position pressed the man close to his chest as long pale fingers tangled in the hair at the back of Lance’s neck. “Okay. Okay.. nnm… I just need to clear my head.”

Lance leaned up and kissed him again, moaning into it. “Nnn. This is definitely not behaving.” He slid a hand down Keith’s back and gripped his ass, squeezing it a bit. 

“You’re one to ta-Ah!” Keith’s back arched to a curved bow caused by Lance’s groping. “I can’t help it…” He whispered, his voice sounding nearly pained as he leaned back up to rest his head against Lance’s shoulder. “And you’re so hot right now.”

“You made me this way.” Lance murmured and started to kiss his jaw. “You’re so sexy, and then you were excited, and you kept pressing back against me while we escaped. I can’t help it. I’m also weak when it comes to you.” He panted a bit against Keith’s skin and closed his eyes. 

“When… nnm.. this is over…” Keith kissed Lance again and again. “We are not leaving our room for a very long time. I want to do everything…” He kissed him again. “And that thing with my mouth you told me about. I want to try that too.”

“Nnn. Fuck.” Lance groaned into that kiss and held him closer. He imagined Keith pushing him back, sliding down his body leaving a trail of kisses in his wake. He shuddered as he envisioned looking down at the mop of black hair as wet heat surrounded him. If he thought about that too much, he would lose it again, so he kissed Keith as though that could help. It didn’t . “I can’t wait.”

“No?” Keith tilted Lance’s head up, a smirk on his ruddy lips. “Should I try now?”

“Yes…n…No…. No we have to…” Lance looked at Keith, eyes half open. “We have to go back. We have to behave.” It sounded like he was telling himself that more than he was telling Keith. “We have to leave the bike. We can come for it later…” He slowly pulled his hands back. 

“All right.” Keith nuzzled Lance’s temple before pulling away from him, whimpering at the loss of contact but steeling himself. “We can still make it back before midnight if we follow the river down.” 

Lance nodded and slumped his body off the bike, shaking his legs a bit before he readjusted his pants and pulled them back on properly. “Don’t let go of my hand.” He reached out for Keith’s.

“Afraid of the dark?” Keith teased as he tugged Lance along, wrapping his fingers into his.

“No.” Lance held Keith’s hand and grunted a little as he walked behind him. “I just don’t want you to let me go.”

“Never again. Never will.” Keith brought his hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Come on, because they send out the dogs.”


	22. Ikarisori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The final Chapter! Thank you all for your love and support for this story! As always we were experimenting with a few ideas and concepts and your feed back means the world to us! Please comment below, and share your thoughts!
> 
> Be expecting an NSFW epilogue next week!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Mature content (Violance, mild mild gore)~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Bishop's Hat** _Ikarisori イカリソウ_ \- I will not let you go/Departure
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)

Lance didn’t know it was possible to be hugged so tightly that all of his insides felt like they were being mushed together, but that’s what Hunk’s hug felt like when the larger man scooped him up and practically crushed him. He tried to laugh, but all that came out was a soft puff of air, and Shay had to grip one of Hunk’s arms to make him let go.

He didn’t know what kind of welcome he was expecting when he made it to the clock tower with Keith, but getting bear hugged to death wasn’t even on the list of options. 

The trek back wasn’t exactly an easy one, but due to their distraction at the base, it was, thankfully, soldier free. Once they made it out of the forest they landed in, they had to cut through alleyways and gardens, pressing themselves against walls and sneaking through any cover they could find. Sure, it was dark out, and by some stroke of luck, the moon had been mostly obscured by clouds that had rolled in as they were landing, but they still had to avoid lamplight and the bustle of the more populous areas of the city. 

But they made it, and Lance took Keith’s hand once he was free from Hunk’s grip. They did it. They made it. Now they just needed to find Sam and get out of there.

Keith tossed his bladed hair pin to Allura as he walked by the silver haired woman. Further communication unnecessary. ‘Never again.’ He shouldered out of his kimono and handed Lance the holster from his thigh. The rough tugging and purposely loud shuffling of cloth let the room know Keiko would never be back.

The run in with the Colonel had been too close. Keith’s arms still felt the bruising force of his hands, he still smelled the rank sour breath of his steak and potatoes dinner. It didn’t frighten Keith. It enraged him. He knew he could crush the life out of the man, and the thought twisted in Keith’s gut. If he killed one man for attacking him, what was the difference between two?

He pulled on a pair of close fitted shorts and followed with a tank top, he kept the bottom crimson layer of his kimono on, belting it around his waist and tying up his hair in a high ponytail. “Let’s get this over with.”

Lance silently stood between Keith and the others as though his lanky body could provide any privacy for the other man. He holstered the pistol and looked down at it. He was relieved that Keith didn’t have to use it, but there was still a pit rolling in his stomach. Something happened. Something Keith likely wouldn’t want to talk about, at least not in front of the others. And so he latched the holster to his belt and stood by his partner, reaching his hand out to touch Keith’s.

“Did you figure out where Sam is being held?” Lance asked Keith even though he looked at Pidge. “We have what we need, so if we can get to him, sooner would be best.”

Keith jumped at Lance’s touch then looked up at him as if to apologize. Lost in his thoughts, an uncharacteristic wariness folded in around him. Their stint on the bike distracted Keith as the two men gave into their adrenaline, but a distraction was all it was. When Lance holds him, kisses him, or pleasures him, Keith doesn’t have to do anything but give in. He delayed any prolong introspection. 

Keith turned around as he wrapped a bladed belt about his waist. “We need to move. He’s held on the secondary sub level.”

“Did you see it?!” Pidge perked up.

“I tore the map off the wall and got a pretty good look at it when he pressed my face against it.” Keith snarled. “So yeah. I got pretty close.” 

Lance went cold and his expression darkened. “He what? I’ll kill that bastard!” He started to walk towards the exit, but he was yanked back by Hunk. 

“Don’t be an idiot. We have to get Pidge’s dad and get out of here.” The larger man kept a firm grip on Lance’s shoulder. 

“Keith…” Shiro walked toward the smaller man, his metal hand on his shoulder as he titled his head up. “Are you okay?” 

Keith narrowed his eyes. Shiro asked a loaded question, and the man knew it. No matter how he answered it would neither redeem or condemn him. So Keith turned his head out of Shiro’s grasp. 

“Worry about me later. Right now I just want to get this over with.”

He looked around the tower. The area where they stood sat empty and hollow, tapering to a narrow roof with a winding staircase all the way up. It had a claustrophobic feel, nothing like the forest and open spaces of their mountain retreat. 

“We go down.” Shiro pointed. “Over there.”

“Let’s go.” 

The temperature in the room seemed to get colder as Lance’s anger seethed. He clenched his fists and remained still since he knew struggling against Hunk’s grip was pointless. 

“Maybe it’s not a good idea to let this one go down there?” Hunk’s knuckles were white as he kept his hand on Lance’s shoulder. 

“Let me go.” Lance muttered, almost spitting the words. “I won’t do anything yet, but let me go.”

Hunk sighed and did, shaking his hand a bit to get the feeling back in his fingers. 

Lance pushed past all of them and started descending the metal staircase, his grumbles and heavy steps echoing hollowly off the walls.

Awkward glances shot around the room before Keith followed after Lance, raising his hand up to signal the group to stay back and allow the men a comfortable distance in order to talk. 

“Hey, if you storm off like that, they’ll start to think I’m a bad influence on you.” Keith tried to start the conversation with a lighter dose of humor as they stopped at the first door. The rusted metal arched access sat at the end of a very long and sloped hallway. Keith didn’t look at it. He didn’t look at the singed frame. He didn’t look at the warped metal brackets. He didn’t focus on the melted out porthole in the center. Instead he saw Lance. He slipped between him and the door, keeping his body from touching the orange and red surface. History and pain sat behind that door. Keith would brave it, like always, but he needed Lance with him when he did.

Lance stopped only because Keith stood in front of him, and he snorted a bit. But the agitation melted into resignation and his shoulders slumped. “I thought you wanted to get it over with?” He couldn’t look at the other man, and instead he inspected the woven metal floor as if the slight scratches and etchings were enough to keep him from getting visibly angry again. 

“I do. I’m mad. I’m upset. And I’d be stupid if I didn’t at least feel a little scared. But I’m not here about me.” A warm hand cupped Lance’s cheek, the, pushed back into his hair, fingers pressing into his head to pull him down and forward against Keith’s forehead. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” Lance lifted his eyes to look at the face that was now so close to his own. His brows furrowed slightly as the rage continued to churn inside him. “Why are you sorry?”

“I let him touch me. When I promised you I wouldn’t. That I didn’t tell you right away. I didn’t know what you’d do or think. That was why I did those things I told you. Why I got so mad.”

“I knew something happened. I could tell from the way you were acting, but I also know enough about you to know you didn’t want to talk about it yet. You’d tell me when you were ready to tell me. So I’m not sure why you’re sorry when you didn’t do anything wrong.” Lance sighed and closed his eyes. “And, given the way you were up there, I’m sure you didn’t let him do anything.” He remained like that for a moment before he frowned. “You could have killed him, and that freaked you out more than you alluded to earlier, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be as guarded as you are right now.”

“I told you, I crushed his neck, burned it with a touch… I could have killed him… I might have.. I don’t know… I forced the medication down his throat and tossed him to the ground.” Keith lifted his hand.

“I just had to squeeze… a little harder…a little longer… That look on his face, Lance…” Keith’s cheeks burned in latent fury. “That smug stupid look. Like he honestly thought he was better than me? How many people have been hurt by him while staring up into that face? He said he didn’t kill any of the women… but I don’t believe him.”

Lance wrapped his arms around him and pulled him against his chest. “I know. He’s pretty horrible. I’m sure he didn’t actually kill the women, though. That’s a scandal he would avoid. But there is a lot someone can live through, and he deserved every ounce of pain you gave him.” He shook his head and kept Keith close to his chest. “But you didn’t kill him, and that’s what matters, right?” 

“I wanted to.” Keith turned his head up to him. “I struggled not to.”

“But you didn’t. You won that struggle. Isn’t that okay?”

“I didn’t want to disappoint you.” 

“You would never disappoint me, Keith.” Lance shook his head and rubbed the smaller man’s back a bit. “Ever.”

Keith laid his head against his shoulder, letting Lance spoil him. “We should get going.” He whispered after a minute, hearing the footsteps of their comrades down the hall.

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.” Lance let go of Keith, but he grabbed his hand. He noticed the state of the doorway, and he could guess what waited for them beyond the large imposing metal door. So he took the first step and looked over his shoulder at his lover, squeezing his hand gently as he pushed that door open. “Don’t let go of me.”

Keith stepped to the side as Lance opened the door. The smell of stale smoke wafted into the room, colliding with the fresh air in storm front of memories. Keith reeled from the punch to his gut and clutched at Lance’s hand to steady himself. He knew walking into these catacombs wouldn’t be easy.

The space had been cleaned up. Nothing remained of the work stations or existence of former lives aside from burned up wood and broken beams. Mushrooms planted themselves and grew on the wood, sucking the last bits of nutrients from the petrified material. Ground water puddled in the corner and dripped from forming stalactites. Life continued in this space long after Keith and Shiro locked it away and sold it off. Never in a hundred years did he think he’d be back here.

Lance never let up the slight pressure he kept on Keith’s hand even as he started walking and stepping over thin lines of water that seemed to connect the larger puddle in the corner to several smaller ones. “Look at me if you need to.” He kept his eyes forward and started along, weaving around and over fallen beams and through the charred passageway.

“If I do that, I’ll probably trip.” Keith’s sardonic words did not match his actions as he kept his head turned and his eyes down to their feet, walking as Lance walked until they came to another door. One fused shut. “I guess I’m up…”

Keith moved around Lance and placed the flat of his hand on the door, focusing his energy through the contact points of metal against skin. He pulled the heat out from the air around him, dragging it through his body and charging it with his own life force. Heat moved in waves from him. His lion roaring in his mind as he focused on what Pidge taught him.

Lance watched as the door took on a warm orange glow and illuminated the area around them. He remained quiet and kept as close to Keith as he could without interfering. And as Keith finished heating the door and unsealing it from its position, Lance finally rested his hand on his back. “That was awesome.” He knew Keith hated using his abilities more than a simple flicker of a candle or lighting of a stove, but he thought encouraging him might be good all the same.

“After all the training Pidge gave us, it’d be a shame not to use it.” Keith pulled the door open, wincing at the high pitched scrape of metal on metal. He took a step back into Lance. Aside from a few singe marks on the floor, the small room beyond had been untouched. Time had been frozen in the tiny space. A rice sack toy cat dangled precariously from a table, left there only moments ago from what Keith could tell. A white coat fluttered in the breeze they let into the room and his eyes found Shiro only a few steps behind.

Shiro’s father’s coat hung as it did over a decade ago. A tiny string plane sat on the floor, red and white painted over casted metal. Keith knelt on the floor to touch the side. Fingers gentle while they stroked the edge as if they were touching the delicate wings of fairy.

Hunk looked around the room and tried to do anything other than stare at Keith and Shiro. He looked at the walls and the few sketches that had been hung up and faded almost completely with time. He looked at the floor and the way it seemed to sink into itself because the years had not been kind to the wood and metal. But after a moment he cleared his throat as though the somber mood could be abated. 

“We should keep going.” Lance glanced at Shiro before he put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “We don’t have much time, right?” He squeezed gently. He wanted to make sure Keith knew he was there for him.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah.” Keith cleared his throat, sharing a meek look with Shiro before stepping forward. The door had no handles yet something in the ground shook, dropping the toy cat on the desk to the floor and the door started to lift and spread.

“Woah!” Hunk’s eyes widened. “What is happening?”

Lance’s hand fell from Keith’s shoulder when the other man stepped away. He grimaced and stepped after him.

“The door’s sliding open.” Shiro said.

“You remember?” Keith gave Shiro a sidelong glance.

“Of course. We played down here a lot.” The doors spread open without each man lifting a finger. Cobwebs stretched and broke in the thousands, and a sudden gale of stale air breathed against their faces. Keith coughed and turned his head up at the scent, trying not to focus on the webs. Spiders. It always had to be spiders.

Lance coughed a little and peered down the darkened hallway. He wrinkled his nose a bit and shook his head. “Who wants to go first?” He took a slight step back, but stayed close to Keith.

“I’ll g-“

“I’ll go.” Shiro cut Keith off and pulled him back into Lance.

Lance caught Keith and blinked, looking at Shiro’s back. “Okay…”

Shiro moved forward, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as the pale light in the previous room spilled forward. He knew the room. There were four doors, two lead on to other sections of the tunnels. He and Keith spent hours exploring the subterranean mazes looking for rocks or bugs or whatever little boys fancied at the time. He noted that beyond the second door the area had been cleaned away. No webbed curtain, and dust arched in a swinging sweep before the doorway. 

A small trail of several aged foot prints lead to the end of the hall where nothing but a small slip in the rock stood out. In the dark Shiro saw a tiny light blink. “Pidge. The card.”

She had come up behind him, using the large man as a spider shield. Shiro hadn’t noticed the waif, and he couldn’t help the smirk on his face as she handed him the card with just a flick of her wrist.

Lance touched Keith’s hand and scowled a bit as he looked around the room. He shuddered a bit at the thought of all the bugs that must have lived here. But when Pidge handed Shiro that card, his attention immediately went to the lock.

Shiro placed the card against that tiny light, which changed from red to green as a series of clicks were heard and the door started to hiss and move, splitting in half and opening slowly as though to tease the ones waiting. Clouds of some sort of fog seeped out of the now open door, and Shiro took one cautious step forward. 

Pebbles and sediment fell from the ceiling when the doors came to a stuttering halt. “This is it.” Keith breathed, his hand reaching for Lance’s shirt unconsciously to tug him along after him.

Lance half stumbled behind Keith as he was tugged down that pathway. Instead of letting the man pull his shirt, he took his hand to make it easier for both of them. The air felt cleaner here, though logically it shouldn’t have since they were in the tunnels under the city. There was the slight scent of copper and brass, and it left a strange taste in Lance’s mouth, but he said nothing as he walked behind Keith. “It’s probably closer now right?” He whispered, as though afraid his voice would give up their position, though he should have been more worried about the range of footsteps for the group.

At the end of the pathway was another set of stairs, this one spiraling below as though the rock walls around them wouldn’t allow for any more progress. Lance sighed and took a step in front of Keith to peer down. “Is this the secondary sub level?” He grimaced, the air felt even staler down there than the previous room. 

“No one’s used this pathway for a couple days.” Hunk looked around the area once they reached the bottom of that spiral staircase, noticing the upturned tables and moldy food still sitting on the table adding to the mixture of stale air.

Keith turned his nose up but did little else. He knew exactly how long it had been. Since the day Lance pulled Keith from the lab and compromised their whole operation. Keith cocked his head at a warped glass square window. Slim smoothed edges gave a birth to a bulging center. On either side dusty coils twisted and curved around a set of copper cylinders. “What’s…”

“Moving visualization monitor. An MVM. They aren’t practical but if you have the money and space for one…” Pidge adjusted her glasses as she skipped to the table. “It captures motion for playback. Great concept. Horrible execution.”

“Doesn’t look so big.” Keith blinked.

“This is just the eye. The body is below.” Pidge flipped a switch against the side and the room shook with enough force to bounce Keith back against Lance.

Sparks jumped and danced between the coils and shot light over the glass pane until an image came into a hazed focus. A boy, early teens, laid across a table.

As soon as he recognized the image, Lance immediately jumped in front of Keith and blocked his view of it, which also meant he didn’t have to look at it either. The last thing either of them needed to see was what exactly was done to Keith during those treatments. “We’re here to find your dad, not gawk at all the equipment.” He tried to keep from snapping the words, since he was convinced now that Pidge just had too much going on in her brain to allow space for any tact. Science was great, and while she cared deeply for the people in her life, she didn’t seem to understand how to be careful of their feelings. That was clear when she came up with the geisha plan, and it was even clearer now. But Lance couldn’t fault her for it. She was a good kid, and he was sure she would be mortified when she realized what she did.

Shiro took a step in front of the screen, blocking it from everyone’s view. “Lance is right. Pidge, turn that off so we can find Sam and get out of here.”

Pidge cocked her head, not fully comprehending why everyone jumped in front of Keith until she looked at the image. Shame flushed her cheeks as she flipped the switch off.

“Let’s just go.” Keith pushed slowly away from Lance’s chest keeping his eyes low. “None of this matters anymore.” 

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and squeezed it. He glanced over at Pidge and offered her a smile before he returned his full attention to his lover. “Ok.” He started to walk towards a large metal door that led into the next corridor, but he never let go of Keith’s hand.

Hunk exchanged a look with Shiro before he lightly clapped Pidge’s shoulder and grinned. “We’ll just have to come up with a better system when we all get out of here.” If he could bring it back to the science, and not the subject, maybe she would feel better. Pidge’s nod seemed to indicate it helped at least a little bit.

“We’ll figure it out.” Keith took Lance’s hand and closed his eyes as he stepped forward. They continued through the corridors one by one. Dirt giving way to clay, then wood, then finally a sleek silver metal Pidge called aluminum.

They stood in a line before the last door. Keith’s hand gripping the card through his chest.

“Give it to me.” Lance held his hand out to Keith. “I’ll open the door.” He could tell Keith was apprehensive. He could see it in the way he seemed pale and flushed at the same time. So if Lance could ease his worries, he would.

“Huh?” Keith’s thoughts drifted against a dark sea of conflicting inner thoughts. He had to be brave, but every part of him had been stripped away and laid bare, tossed across the floor for everyone to see. Humiliation, anger, regret, guilt, it tore at him, vultures picking the last shred of his dignity from his bones. Lance’s voice pierced through the mocking caw and for a second he stared up at the Cuban as though he didn’t recognize him. 

“Oh, here. Yeah.” He whispered, coming back to himself and handing him the card.

Lance took the card, but he made sure to touch Keith’s fingers when he took it. The other man had clearly lost himself for a moment there, and Lance wanted him to know he was here. After giving Keith a quick smile, he walked to the panel. He stared at it for a moment before he held it up to the silver metal plate. The red light that had been shining from behind it now changed to green, and the doors slowly opened with a hiss. “If Sam’s in there, Pidge and Shiro should go in first.” He glanced at the two of them.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Pidge walked out in front of Shiro but thought better of it as a large hand pulled her back to his side. “That is… I mean after you. Of course.” 

Shiro smirked. “Then again you are a smaller target.” He ruffled her hair as he walked by, pressing into the dark.

Keith took a jerking step forward before forcing himself to stay put. He didn’t like Shiro going in first. He didn’t like Shiro not having him at his back. They’d been in similar situations, but they were always together. As he watched Shiro disappear into the dark, he worried his lip between his teeth as he rubbed his fingers against his thumb.

Lance rested his hand on Keith’s arm and shook his head. “You and I are the last two people who should go in there right now, and you know that as well as I do. Shiro will be okay. Trust him.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Keith whispered.

“You didn’t have to say anything.” Lance shook his head and sighed.

Hunk looked at the two of them before he turned and looked over Pidge’s head as she stepped towards the doorway. He shook his head and half-whispered. “Can you see anything? Where did Shiro go?” 

A black mass shot out the dark room, and before it could slam against the far wall, Keith darted across the space in a blur of red, catching the shape out of the air to slide in twisted tumble of limbs across the ground. Keith pulled Shiro to his body, monochrome head cradled by his arm, blood dripping down to Keith’s elbow.

Keith crouched and leaned over Shiro’s body, a snarl on his lips as he stared into the room, listening, waiting like a lion over her cub. 

Hunk pulled Pidge down and shielded her body with his own when Shiro came flying out of the room. “What the hell was that?” 

Without even taking any time to panic, Lance immediately crouched at Keith’s side. “Give him to me. I’ll stop the bleeding.”

Keith’s eyes didn’t flicker from the door as he handed Shiro over to Lance. The dark haired man stayed low, ducked, his body shifting with a feline anxiety as he watched the shadows beyond the doorway, seeing what the others could not. The darkness moved, like watching ink ooze over coal, Keith pinpointed the change in shadows’ textures. Narrow cat slit eyes focused as his lion growled in his head. “Wait.” He whispered to everyone and no one.

Lance carefully took Shiro and rested his hand on the back of his head, feeling the sluggish flow of blood as he focused on pushing it back. Just as he had with his own wounds, with Keith’s, and with Pidge’s, he focused on the life that leaked from Shiro’s head. However, he kept his eyes locked on Keith, his lips curved downward. “What do you see?” His voice was quiet but concerned.

Hunk slowly crept back from the doorway and pulled Pidge with him. He tried to keep his movements subtle enough that it wouldn’t be obvious, but he also knew he had to protect the girl he shielded. 

“Christ.” Keith’s eyes widened as stood up, running forward to place himself between the door and his friends. 

A looming figure melted from the dark. A burned twisted visage of a man stood before the group. His skin leathery in spots, charred and brown turning green in others. A layer of slick oozing clear viscous fluid covered every piece of visible flesh.

“Jin?”

“How?” Lance’s eyes widened when he heard that and saw the shambling creature that stepped out of the room. There was no way Jin could have survived was there? Not after the way his body seemed to explode when they escaped Kyoto weeks earlier. But his skin was charred in patches or red and bubbled in others, but it looked shiny and seeped something disgusting. One eye was missing, replaced with an orb of blue liquid that looked a lot like the fluid that was in Allura’s tank. The legs and arms that had been clearly blown off were replaced with contraptions that looked similar to Shiro’s only there was a red fluid flowing through pipes and tubing. 

Lance felt his stomach lurch. He had seen that kind of tubing before. It was what Sam used to drain Keith’s blood. “Hunk!”

Hunk didn’t need to be told twice! He pulled Pidge back to where Lance was setting Shiro’s head on the ground. 

Lance looked at them before he hopped up and moved to support Keith. 

“How is this even possible?” Keith quailed at the sight in front of him. Jin’s body was broken, disjointed and his hips moved with an inhuman shuffle on the floor. Muscle and exposed juicy sinew rippled and tore, but it didn’t detach from the rage in the man’s eyes, the glowing one moving off kilter from the other. 

“Keith.” Garbled words came from a slackened and stretched jaw. The very one Keith had dislocated weeks ago. “Keeeith!” 

“They used the blood?” Pidge sat on the floor by Shiro, her hand on his head as she quickly checked for any smaller wounds. “Look at the way the pistons in those limbs are moving. That’s like the prototype for Shiro’s arm. My dad—” She cut herself off and frowned. “They must have made him do that.”

Lance frowned and took another step closer to Keith. “We have to kill him. Actually kill him.” He muttered. 

“How many times can a guy die?” Hunk yelled back at the group.

“Once. Still only once. This… isn’t living.” Keith’s back straightened as he snarled. They used a piece of him to create a beast. “Lance! Do you remember what Pidge taught you?”

Lance snorted a little, but he nodded and clenched his fists. “I do, but I’m not sure what good it’s going to do in such a small space.”

“This place isn’t as damp as some of the tunnels upstairs, but there should be enough water vapor in the air to do something.” Pidge shook her head. “But if you use too much, it’s dangerous for all of us.”

“I just need a distraction… if you can do some damage even better. Hunk!” Keith looked over at the bigger man and smirked seeing the hard-set determination on his face. The man knew what he was going to ask, and by the low vibration from the floor, he was way ahead of Keith.

Lance nodded and glanced around the room before he opened his palms and concentrated, little droplets of water began to form in the air. Once they were the size of small pellets, they froze and started hitting Jin, or what was left of him, in the face.

Jin charged forward only to be stopped by a block of earth breaking through the tin floor, shredding the metal to jagged edges as it exploded upward. Keith twisted and gilded behind Lance, giving Pidge a nod as broken roots and vines came to life. They split away from the cracked interior to stretch across the floor and hang down from the ceiling, offering Keith his needed leverage. Higher ‘ground’. 

Keith ran to one growing root and shot himself into the air, gripping a vine, swinging from one extension to the next like marionette, keeping himself out of the beast’s reach. He slipped off his belt, and with a swipe, a blood cable broke free.

Lance let a few more ice pellets fly before he shook his head. “I’m out. Is there something else?”

Pidge eyed the blood as it sprayed from the cut tubing. Her eyes widened. “The prototypes! Shiro’s cabling is on the inside because the tubing was susceptible to the elements! Those are on the outside. My dad’s not that stupid. He did that on purpose! See if you can freeze there!”

Lance nodded and focused on one of the tubes protruding from a mechanical leg. Sweat formed on his brow as he tried to freeze it, and while the temperature lowered, it didn’t lower enough to freeze.

“Focus Lance! Not on the whole area but a point!” Pidge yelled as he watched Keith use the ropes to run along the wall. Each time he swiped past the half man he managed to cut or pull at a cord or a metal tendon. His passes were getting more and more dangerous with each swing landing him in Jin’s range.

“I am!” Lance shouted as his hair started to stick to his neck and forehead.

Hunk’s eyes widened. “Keith, can you heat it up? Disrupt the construction of the tubing, make the blood hotter, whatever you need to do to weaken it so Lance can try!”

“I can’t really stop to focus right now!” Keith dodged a wild grip of Jin’s arms. “Blood is made of water!” Keith yelled turning over his shoulder to yell at the trio behind him. “Use it!”

“I know that!” Lance snapped.

Keith’s eyes widened as a metal hand reached out, finally getting fingers around his throat. The shock filled the room as everyone stared horrified awe of the pumping pulsing, hydrologically added extension of the arm plucking as it ripped Keith out of the air, tossing him down to the ground with a pain filled crack before lifting him again by his neck.

Everything around Lance went cold when Keith was snatched from the air. His eyes widened, and he frantically searched for another way, wincing when he heard the crack of Keith getting thrown to the ground. His eye caught the sluggish stream of blood that dripped along the limp arm at Jin’s side. The line Keith cut earlier! He focused on the thin, but steady stream of viscous fluid. It started to flow faster and faster until it sprayed out of the cut like an over-pressured pipe. If he couldn’t freeze it, he would pull it all out of Jin.

The heavy hit to the floor left him dazed, but as he watched Lance’s attack come to fruition he did so with large, horror filled eyes. Flesh turned pale and ashen, giving Jin an undead rotting pallor without even Keith’s blood to sustain him. Pain and confusion sent Jin’s eyes to twist rapidly inside his skull. Whatever humanity remained inside the metal husk didn’t want to die. He was terrified, and in a level of pain so high the Korean found only empathy. No one should suffer that much.

Keith stopped struggling against the grip on his neck, a gentle hand lifted to touch the back of the wrist holding him. “Shhh..shhh…” There would be no saving him. There was no hope of that, but Keith could do something. He closed his eyes and a calm settled on his expression which transferred to Jin. He was weakening and lowering to the floor, a pain filled cry gurgling from his mouth, and in a flash nothing remained.

Keith slipped out of meaty fingers, gliding effortlessly to the floor. He stared at his blood, pooled and congealing against the tin. “He’s not a problem anymore.” Keith reached up to the large man who remained on his knees with no life running to any part of his body, and he graced his hand over Jin’s face to close his eyes. Lance slowed him down, brought back a humanity to frantic actions and Keith. Keith flash heated all the vital internal organs in less than a second. 

As soon as it was all over, Lance was on the ground on his hands and knees, panting, sweat soaking through his shirt and dripping from his hair, neck, and face. His vision blurred and his stomach lurched as it tried to empty its contents, though nothing was there. 

“Lance!” Hunk knelt beside the other man and rested his hand on his back, rubbing it a bit as his friend continued to dry heave. He glanced over at Pidge. “How’s Shiro?”

“Shiro is fine.” Shiro said as he sat up with Pidge’s aid. The small Italian barely a few inches taller than him when sitting. A draping of leaves circled his brow in a herbal cornet. “How are you two?”

“I didn’t do much of anything, but this guy…This guy’s losing it.” Hunk kept his hand on Lance’s back.

Lance coughed and let his fingers curl against the floor as he felt another wave of nausea hit him. “Wh…What about Sam?” He managed. 

Keith clenched his fist. He wanted to run over to Lance, he wanted to wrap himself around him and coddle the pain right out of his strained voice, but he didn’t. “Only one way to find out.” He stepped forward, swallowing hard as he walked into the shadows.

“Keith!” Pidge cried out, but then the darkened room flashed into vivid warm radiance. Keith stood at the center, his body glowing in an aura of flame.

“Like I said. A glorified lantern.” Keith shrugged.

Lance tried to reach out for Keith when the other man walked into that doorway, but he just didn’t have the strength to do much beyond lift his hand and yelp. “H…Hunk.”

Hunk nodded and hopped to his feet, walking up behind Keith and peeking over his shoulder. “What is it?”

“Empty.” Keith whispered. “The room is empty.”

Lance felt his body collapse under the weight of Keith’s words. “Now what?” He rested his cheek against the cool metal floor, not caring that some of the blood was slowly creeping towards him.

“No. You said…” Pidge came into the room, distraught eyes searching the room for anything Keith may have missed.

“I know what I said!” Keith yelled, making her jump. “I know what I saw.” He calmed his words as he walked back to Lance, his shoulders in a demoralized slump, he leaned down to lay a hand on Lance’s back, lifting his brunette head to rest on his lap. “We need to get out of here.”

“What? No! We can’t!”

“We don’t have a choice Pidge!”

“I’ve done everything you wanted! I’ve waited long enough!”

“So have I Pidge!” Keith growled, his temper flared as the lion roared in his head, forcing a snarl out on his lips. “I’ve done everything you asked of me. And now I’m saying it’s time to go.”

“We can-“

“PIDGE!” Keith’s eyes flared. “Enough.” 

“D-d-do you guys hear that?” Hunk’s timid voice broke through the tension filling the room. 

“All I hear is yelling.” Lance mumbled from the glorious cushion of Keith’s lap, his eyes closed. 

“It’s coming from in here.” Hunk stepped into the room and turned his head, straining to hear. “It’s like a little knock. Do you hear it Pidge?”

“If you shut up for a second, maybe I can.” She snapped, but sighed when Hunk looked at her like a wounded puppy. “Here…?” She stepped towards a wall of paneling and leaned in to listen.

Keith stroked Lance’s ear, apologizing in his own quiet way for yelling, but he felt his ears perk up for the sound. It was deliberate. A rhythm. Like a code. “Morse?” He whispered.

Lance groaned a little and opened his eyes to look up at Keith. “Help me up…”

Pidge listened to each little tap, her brows furrowed. “There’s…” She looked around the room, and her eyes widened. “Hunk, Shiro, can you pry that panel off the wall?” 

Hunk moved where Pidge was pointing and touched a large metal sheet that looked like it was hastily sealed, but from the other side. “This one?” He looked over at Shiro.

Keith hoisted Lance up, the motion looking effortless as he pulled his arm around his shoulder and walked him to the small square space. 

Lance murmured “Sorry” As he leaned against Keith and walked with him. 

“Can you break it?” Shiro asked Hunk. He was the only one unscathed enough and big enough to try.

Hunk nodded. “I think so.” He put his ear to the sheet and tapped a few times before he rested his hand on a point on the sheet and focused. The metal vibrated until it fell into the hole it sealed up. “Looks like another passage to a room.” He peered in.

Pidge crawled over Hunk’s back, her chin resting on the top of his head. “Dad?” The room was dim with only a faint blue lighting lining the walls. As their eyes adjusted, they saw a bundle on a bed, a man aged twenty years since she last saw him, appearing borderline emaciated yet with a enough strength to bang a cane against the wall. 

“Dad!” Pidge kicked off Hunk, flinging herself easily into the opening. 

“Woah what happened?” Hunk looked in after her, but didn’t follow. “There was no way he was that old before, right?”

Lance grimaced and glanced at Keith. Was this okay? Was he okay? 

“Stress, strain, trauma.” Keith whispered. “That’s not important now. What’s important is that we get him out of here.” 

“Pidge! Can you help him up?” Hunk yelled down to the mechanic, and that was when Keith’s eyes widened. 

“I’ll be right back.” He set Lance down on the ground, took up one of the vines still circling Jin’s body, and pulled it over to the wall. “She’s too small to lift him on her own. Hunk pull this down to her, she’ll know what to do.”

Hunk grabbed the vine from Keith and sent it down to Pidge. “Hey, incoming!”

Lance forced himself to stand, though he lurched a bit and had to hold into the wall to keep himself steady. 

Keith stood by Lance’s side, his arm looping around his waist. “I forced you to use too much. Are you going to be able to run?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll have to try, won’t I?” Lance looked at him and managed a shaky smile as they waited for Hunk and Pidge to get her father up there with the rest of them.

As Hunk pulled Sam Holt out of the wall Keith’s body tensed. Flashes of their last encounter inundating the logical civility he practiced hard to maintain. Rage, betrayal, loss, every bitter feeling he held onto for the last few weeks had been lit by a fuse this man ignited. His teeth gnashed and he stomped forward, Pidge moved out of the way to give Keith his first real look and the fuse snuffed out. The man who attacked him had not been this frail creature who laid before them, tenderly wrapped up in makeshift litter. Life had doled out a harsher treatment on Sam than Keith could ever. He shook his head, turning it to the side.

Lance stumbled and tensed when Keith stomped forward, but he forced himself to calm, and he reached out for him. “Hey, I’m here.” He murmured, though he didn’t pull his gaze away from the frail mechanic that Hunk was currently fussing over.

“Pidge. Hunk. Get him out of here.” Keith whispered. “He’s a burden on our speed. I need to check out one more place, and I’ll have to move quickly.” Keith heard the brutal bluntness in his voice but he didn’t have the capacity to worry about it now.

“What do you mean?” Pidge lifted the foot end of the stretcher, leaving Hunk to take most of the weight. She wasn’t going to argue with the command but she wanted to know why he gave it. 

“That.” Keith pointed over to Jin’s husk. “Came from somewhere. If they are using what they stole from Allura and me to create more of that? This won’t ever be over.” 

“And you want us to leave the three of you to deal with that? Shiro got knocked in the head, and Lance looks like he could pass out and sleep for days.” Hunk snorted, but he made no move to put the stretcher down. 

“We’ll be fine, just get him out of here and secure our escape from the city.” Shiro shook his head and crossed his arms. Keith got his stubbornness from somewhere. “Trust us.”

“Honestly, I’d rather they went with you. But we both know that they won’t agree to it.” Keith shook his head.

“Injured guard dogs are the fiercest.” Pidge sighed, nodding for Hunk to keep going. 

Lance grunted, but he continued to stand on his own. He wobbled a little for a few moments, but he gained his balance and frowned a bit. “If there are any more of those things, you can’t go up against them alone.”

Shiro glanced at Lance, then back to Keith and nodded. “Lance still has his gun, and I’m fine, so we’re fine. And we should move quickly.”

“Come on.” Keith slipped through the hole into Sam’s room, going to the locked door. “The keycard.”

Lance followed, resting his hand on the wall when he passed the keycard over to Keith. He took a few deep breaths and watched, but his fingers curled against the metal beneath his hand.

Shiro stopped behind the two of them, glancing around the room before he focused on the door in front of them.

“Shiro.” 

“Got it.” Heeding Keith’s unspoken command, the larger man stepped by Lance, watching as the dark hared man scanned the card, listening for the tell tail clicks and pops followed by a beeps. The door swung open and Keith slipped through.

Two muted thuds followed before his familiar long haired head popped over the side of the frame. “Coast is clear.”

Lance drew his pistol and took a cautious step in after Keith gave them the okay. He looked down at the two unconscious guards and shook his head. He stepped over their prone forms and followed Keith quietly.

“Told you he was good.” Shiro smirked watching his adopted brother with a proud smile.

“I didn’t need you to tell me he was good.” Lance snorted.

“I can also hear.” Keith didn’t turn around, but he didn’t have to for the others to see the flush on his ears. 

“Where are we going?” Shiro snickered, staying back by Lance despite his temptation to walk up beside the younger man.

“I don’t know. There’s just something… I feel its …” Keith stopped, his lips pursing to the side in thought. “Shiro, contact Allura.” He pressed himself up against the wall before the next corridor. “Ask if she can sense anything through you.”

Lance stopped behind Keith and held his gun at the ready, his expression darkening, but he said nothing.

Shiro grimaced, but he nodded. “She can. She said it feels really similar to the feeling she had before, so she must be referring to the fight.”

Keith raised his hand behind himself, touching Lance’s hip in a gentle command to stay where he was. “How do you feel? Steady? I can give you five more minutes to catch your breath, but after that…”

“I’m as fine as I’m going to be.” Lance lowered his free hand to touch the one at his hip. “I’ll be okay. You don’t need to worry about me. Worry about yourself.”

“Worrying about you is worrying about myself.” Keith managed a warm smile for his lover.

Shiro rested his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “And I’m not unconscious at least, so I can do some of the heavy lifting.”

“Shiro.” Keith turned his head abruptly to the Japanese man. “Can Allura tell you anything more? Can she sense where it’s coming from? Tell her to use me if she has too.”

Shiro lifted his hand from Lance’s shoulder to rub his forehead, his eyes closing for a moment. “She senses two just ahead. There’s not much else she can tell from where she is. But she said there’s definitely two...pulses. Or at least that’s the best word she has for it.”

“Two what? Two like Jin!?” Keith narrowed his eyes and swallowed, craning his neck around the edge to see down the corridor.

Shiro shook his head. “She said it feels similar to before, but not exactly the same.” Shiro sighed. “But she said she felt only two. So whatever’s in there is all of it.”

Lance took a step forward and closed his eyes. His stomach protested against another use of his power, but if he could ease Keith’s worries, it would be worth it. “Nothing’s moving.” He whispered. “I don’t feel anything flowing but the three of us. So if it is there, maybe it’s just stored?”

“All right. Stay close.” Keith moved down the hall, keeping himself low and a hand against the wall to feel for any vibrations along the metal surface. One door stood at the end, unguarded and shrouded in the toxic lighting of a flickering lamp. “That?” 

“Yeah, that.” Shiro half whispered, half hissed. 

“I still don’t feel any blood flow when I search it out.” Lance murmured, voice strained as he concentrated on staying upright. “So no guards inside, either.”

Keith walked toward the door as a man approaching a funeral pyre. A beep told his wounded guardians the door had opened but their charge hesitated. His hand sat flat against the surface. A shift of Shiro’s weight snapped him out of the daze and forced the smaller man to push.

The door scraped heavily as it swung open, requiring Keith to shoulder into the room. Cold air pushed down the hall in a gust as all three men stood at the entrance.

Shelving lined the walls, empty with etched in and faded penciled dates every few inches. Keith approached with narrowed eyes. “These are a few months old.” He fingered over each date noting in his head the familiarity of a few of them. They were all days he’d been given treatment. Another shelf stood empty with a few more dates, and Keith gathered those were Allura’s additions. He followed the markings until the dates became more recent. 

“This month.” The blood was barely useable after forty days and the shelf was lined with deep crimson colored tubes. 

Lance lowered and holstered his pistol as he stepped in behind Keith, his eyes scanning the room before they fell on two tables by the wall opposite the shelves. Bile rose in his throat as he remembered what he had to do to stop Jin. This time, however, the altered men on the table were completely unmoving. Either they needed activated blood to function, or they were failed experiments. Either way, he could see the red tubing on their metallic limbs, and he held his hand out to Shiro. “Knife.”

Shiro didn’t hesitate to hand his blade to Lance, though he turned his head away from what the thinner man was doing. Instead, he focused on Keith, resting his hand on his shoulder. “We should destroy all of those vials.” He tried to ignore the squelching sound that came from those tables.

“I’ll burn them.” Keith whispered, picking up a tube and watching the liquid shift and coat the sides. “I can do that much. It’s all a part of me.” He wasn’t Pidge, but he had an idea of what a concentrated level of his alchemic blood could do. 

“How?” Shiro asked, moving to block Keith’s line of sight to Lance.

“Allura said it herself. Black and red twist inside me. I can call out to it, it’s connected to me. The blood is still ‘alive’. I can kill it and destroy everything in this facility all at once.”

“Keith, there’s people, innocent people. Above us.” Shiro called Keith’s attention to the fact that they were currently under an army base. 

“There won’t be anyone up there for long.” Lance wiped the blade clean on a piece of cloth he found by the tables, and he handed it back to Shiro. He said nothing else as he walked to one of the panels on the wall. He flipped the cover open and punched in a series of numbers. Within seconds, loud alarms sounded throughout the facility and the floors above. “The base should be clear in less than three minutes. That’s about how long one of our evacuation drills takes, and that’s without part of the base already destroyed. The sooner the better.”

“Damn it Lance!” Shiro yelled, a startled shake to his voice as the alarms and lights went off around him while feeling the pull on his lion lending itself to Keith. The aura around Red’s keeper shifted. First the light flared in crimson flame, then void deep fingers of smoke started to wrap around him, coiling tighter and tighter. They appeared about to crush small man but in puff, the curls vanished into his flesh, making Keith moan in pain. 

Harkened by the sound of its bearer’s pain, the red lion roared, shooting the smoke out of Keith and reaching for the vials like the knocked branches of a winter tree.

Lance’s eyes widened. “Shiro, make sure you can grab him when he’s done. We have to go.” His eyes seemed a bit brighter as blue roared with red and surrounded him with a liquid sheen. “You have to run in front of me. I can keep the flames back.”

“Can you manage that?”

“I have to, don’t I? And I can’t carry him, so you have to.” 

Keith’s fire ripped down the tendrils, slipping through the glass, and becoming as incorporeal as the blackened fingers of Shiro’s lion, depositing the flame inside.

“Shit!” Shiro cursed grabbing hold of Keith the second his power flared. “Lance! Now!”

“Go!” Lance lifted his hands and water surged up, creating a wall to keep the flames at bay, his back to Shiro as the larger man grabbed Keith and pulled him out of the room. As soon as he heard the footsteps on the other side of that door, he pushed his water forward as he took steps backwards. One. Two. Three. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold it, he could feel himself fading as the heat of the flames started to lick his face, but at least Keith would get out safely.

“Lance! We have to go!” Shiro held Keith to his side watching the flames close in around Lance. “Lance!” The Black Lion pulled his arm around the soldier’s slender waist, and folded him into the shelter of his body.

\-----

“Whaaaat is that?” Hunk had just set Sam’s stretcher down near the door to the clock tower when the ground started to rumble. In the distance, he heard the sirens wailing from the base. Loud. Intense. Meant to warn everyone in the area to get out.

He paled a bit and looked at Pidge. “You…don’t think they did something stupid, do you? I mean they probably did something stupid. But…” He barely got the words out when there was an explosion at the base large enough to shake this entire half of the city. “Oh…no…”

“What was…” Pidge felt the rumble and dove to pull Hunk back as flames shot from the open stairwell, blowing metal, wood and rebar in all directions.

Hunk used his body to shield Pidge and Sam, his skin hardening, and some of that debris bouncing right off of him. “What….” His eyes widened when the initial explosion subsided, staring at the flames that licked the metal of the staircase and reached for them. “They’re…” He shook his head and blinked back tears, pulling Pidge and Sam farther away from the flames. 

“There’s… there’s no way….” Pidge edged toward the stairwell. Molten metal and black earth were all that greeted her forcing tears to pearl at the corner of her eyes. “I… Not even Keith could survive that.”

Hunk pulled her back again and shook his head. “We…we can’t go looking for them. We…” He turned his head to the side just as the very air seemed to shift and change. A black puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere, and from it fell Keith, then Lance, and finally Shiro. All three soaked and reddened from the heat, but seemingly untouched from the flames. “Holy crap!”

“H-hey.” Shiro wobbled from the shadows, his clothes covered in spots of caked soot. He set the two bundles in his arms on the floor and melted to his knees then to the floor. His metallic arm falling heavy around Keith who hadn’t made a sound since igniting the lab.

Hunk ran to them, looking at Keith and Lance worriedly before he placed his hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Can you walk? We need to get out of here.”

Lance’s hand fumbled for Keith’s and gripped it, squeezing a bit. “W…wake up, Keith…”

“Nm.” Keith whimpered, his eyes opening for a second before shutting again. “We didn’t die.”

“No…we didn’t.” Lance slowly sat up and tried to pull Keith up with him, the ground vibrating and the distinct sound of an engine humming came through the open door. “We have to go.” 

“Matt’s here with the truck!” Pidge called out towards them as if to confirm Lance’s suspicions. “Hunk! Help us get Dad up!” 

Keith started to stand, stumbling into Lance and feeling a large hand around his arm holding him steady. “Shiro?” Keith blinked then looked over at Lance. The smell of burnt hair making his nose wiggle. “You’re both okay? We’re okay?” 

Lance’s brows furrowed and he lifted a hand to push some of Keith’s hair out of his face, but his hand stopped right around his neck. “It’s gone.” His fingers followed the ragged, singed edges of what was once long, healthy hair. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered, letting Shiro help them both up before ushering them to the truck.

“We’re all okay.” Allura sat in the back, sitting next to a pile of their bags. She glanced at Sam and Pidge, a delicate frown coming to her lips at the sight of the old man before smiling at the others. She only jumped slightly when Matt half-slammed the back of the truck once Shiro had gotten everyone into it. Her hand reached out for Keith, and she smiled. “It’s all gone. You did it.”

Keith took her hand, finding a place to lay between her and Lance. “For now. Yeah. They’ll come for us. Hunt us down. We still need to get out of here. We’ve only delayed them.”

“Already taken care of. By morning we’re gonna be leaving port from Yokohama!” Matt’s nasally voice yelled from the front. “And we’re gonna do it in style!”

“Don’t tell me… you know the captain?” Pidge popped her head through the window. “Matt!”

“Dated the captain!” Matt corrected. 

“A female ship captain?” Pidge’s voice perked with interest.

“Of course! The best, most generous, loveliest captain there is!” 

Keith smiled weakly at the sibling antics, shaking his head and letting it land on Lance. “What about the slums. The people… without…we haven’t had a chance to set everything up.” Keith reached to pull his hair off his neck blinking when all he got were frayed and broken ends. ‘It’s gone’ he remembered Lance’s apology. That’s what he’d meant.

Lance rested his fingers against Keith’s cheek and shook his head. “You can’t stress yourself out worrying about that right now. You need to rest.”

Shay’s face popped through the window from the front of the truck. “I’ve handled as much as I could while you all ran around doing destructive things. I’ve given them my home and restaurant, and there were some very good army men who brought some more supplies from the base before we came here to get you. They said they could no longer stand by and watch innocent people suffer. I do not think you have to worry about much.”

“Shay-“ Keith started but the woman held her hand up stalling his voice.

“Do you think I just sit around and wait to hear from Hunk? I have been doing all the background work you crazy danger addicts do not try to think of. Someone must be level headed.” Hunk wrapped his arms around the her and held her close while he snuffled his face against his cheek.

“You. Are. Amazing.”

Lance smiled a little when Hunk’s face appeared in the little window next to Shay’s, and he smiled when the two of them disappeared so Matt could focus on driving. With a little shake of his head, Lance tapped Keith’s cheek. “Right now, all you have to worry about is resting, regaining your strength, and what you’re going to say to my sisters when you meet them.”

Shiro smiled as he watched the warmth fill Keith’s face. Lance’s simple gesture lit up his world, and the fire raced through their connection, settling on each lion with a sense of comfort and ease. There would be no more hunting. No more searching. This is who they were. This ragtag group of mechanics, soldiers, artists, chefs, rebels, family. He took Allura’s hand, laying his head on her demure shoulder.

“Where to from here?” 

Lance never tore his gaze from Keith’s softened expression, and the hand that tapped his cheek dropped to take Keith’s hand. He smiled, remaining quiet for a moment before he brought that hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Home. We’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue next week and new art!


	23. Wasurenagusa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As promised, NSFW Epilogue for all the lose ends and happy soft feels.
> 
> Please see the new art listed below!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **~~~ Explicit (Soft boys beach sex)~~~~**
> 
> _Hanakotoba 花言葉_ \- Japanese language of flowers  
>  **Camellia** _Tsubaki 椿_ \- (red) Love (yellow) longing (white) waiting  
>  **Forget Me Not** _Wasurenagusa 勿忘草_ \- True Love
> 
> Find Art For this Story Here:  
> [ **Secret World** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/d3dbcc02140a259eb624a73bbb4ffafe/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo1_1280.png)  
> [ **True Self** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4f7a13655cf10f3199e2568101371ccb/tumblr_p3a9mkwrsg1skawldo4_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Miss Monsir](https://monsir-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Little Help?** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/8338741787d3c764e8a551bbab084fa7/tumblr_p2tb1skJiL1skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
> [ **Unraveling Truth** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e42e6c3d33b7b529662621c0d87d8c/tumblr_p52yjf9OC01skawldo1_1280.jpg)  
>  Art completed by: [Iwonn-Arts](http://iwonn-arts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Simple Walk** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/749c8aaa22547e674fca6ff6fa20662a/tumblr_p5sviubKEX1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Autumn Sacura](http://autumn-sacura.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **A Drift** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/159bc6ceb2f7b67723a3c3487bf30f08/tumblr_p8ovb5TT2l1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **Sakura** ](https://78.media.tumblr.com/4ee3a93b4fd9710a82362b1a0aafa389/tumblr_p9rse1LOQT1skawldo1_1280.png)  
>  Art completed by: [Aphine123](http://aphin123.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ **NEW ART - Safe and Warm** ](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk8_xZZHN_4/?taken-by=crazycookiemaniac)  
>  Art completed by: [Crazycookiemaniac](http://crazycookiemaniac.tumblr.com/)

Over a month had passed since they left Yokohama and their old lives behind. They burned up with the army base, leaving absolutely no traces of the five rebel heroes and their friends behind. 

Rumors reached them through the ship’s radio. In the official story, the base had fallen into a sink hole caused by a collapse of an ancient lava tube. The base had been demolished, and all the soldiers were taken to Okinawa. 

Fellow rebels sent word of what was left behind, and thanks to Keith’s swan song attack, nothing but molten metal and transfigured glass rocks remained. They could not provide any further answers than that. Keith felt comfortable with what they got. In life you don’t always get all your questions answered. Sometimes mysteries are left in the wake of solving bigger problems and frankly, for Keith, it didn’t matter anymore. 

Pale legs pulled up closer to his chest as he laid his cheek upon his knees. He watched the waves curl against the beach, darkening the white dust fine sand into a deep brown. Cuba was a paradise, everything Lance ever whispered in his ears during their late-night pillow talks. 

Lance’s family owned a colonial style villa overlooking the Atlantic. The main house had six bedrooms, an insanely large kitchen where Lance’s mother and grandmother would cook the meals. Keith and the others tried to offer help but only family was allowed the fuss in the kitchen while the guests sat in the main dining area talking amongst themselves, each one feeling guilty (particularly Shay). 

From what Keith could tell, Lance had yet to explain the nature of their relationship to his family, and Keith was thankful for it. He needed the reprieve. For now he wanted the peace and quiet of just being friends, even though they were given the pool house for just themselves. Keith suspected their relationship was no secret, but the family kept a respectful distance for now. That worked for Keith. 

He cupped the sand in his hand as his toes dug into the grains. Normally he was careful to keep his pale skin out of the harsh sun, but with the sun starting to come down, Keith got a little braver and ventured down to the edge of the beach, just before the tide line. The sunset burned with rainbow radiance. Crimsons, oranges, yellows, and deep purples colored the sky and stained the water to mirror its hues. 

Keith could get used to this. 

“Why are you doing romantic things without me?” Lance sat next to Keith on the sand, his legs spreading out in front of him as he wiggled his toes a little. “Watching the sunset on the beach is the epitome of a romantic date, and you’re alone?” It wasn’t like didn’t understand or know why. Keith often took some time to himself in the late evening, and Lance didn’t blame him. His family was intense, and his mother had pretty much taken all of them in as new children. So now she had her beloved army son back and gained a shorter son, two larger sons, a son and a daughter that could have been twins, a very older brother, and two other daughters. Their family had gone from big to immensely large in that day Lance showed up at the door with his friends. 

He smiled a little as he leaned his shoulder against Keith’s. “Mom finally agreed to let Hunk and Shay into the kitchen tomorrow to help her cook.” He laughed a little. “And, apparently she’s planning a wedding for Shiro and Allura, though neither of them have a clue.” Even though they had been given their own living area in the cabana, his mother absolutely refused to let the other couples share rooms. Not without being married, anyway. 

Keith chuckled into his knee. “I’m sure they will be shocked.” Those two had been even more covert than Lance and Keith, and yet they were sniffed out without giving a second thought. Keith caught a glint of something in Lance’s hand before he rolled his eyes. “You’re obsessed you know that? But it’s grown out more, so…” 

Keith crawled into position between Lance’s legs and bowed his head down, his hair splitting at his neck. Lance was a perfectionist when he came to hair and skin care. The frayed burnt ends of Keith’s once long thick locks annoyed the hell out of the taller man, and he never wasted an opportunity to trim it out of Keith’s hair the second it appeared long enough. Lance placed layers throughout trying to style and control its growth at the same time, but no part of Keith was ever easily controlled, and the back of his hair always grew faster than the sides or the front. He didn’t bother Keith so much, but he allowed Lance his simple pleasures. 

“I can’t help it. It’s my fault it got burned in the first place.” Lance shook his head and carefully ran his fingers through Keith’s hair before he started to trim the edges again. At least now it would be as even as he could get it, and the strands would be able to grow properly and remain healthy. He missed the length from before, but he kind of preferred Keith’s hair being shorter like this, since it gave Lance easier access to his neck. “Besides, it’s one of the only times you let me do this.” He leaned down and kissed the back of Keith’s neck, smirking against his flesh. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Nn.” Goose bumps rose up in a wave down the back of Keith’s neck, spreading over his arms. “I don’t know. Does a rabbit bare its stomach to a wolf?” His sigh took any bite out of his words. He never knew his neck could be so sensitive. It was just skin. It wasn’t special. It wasn’t near any main erogenous zones, but it felt like the nerves had a direct line to tug, twitch, all of areas he did know about. Each kiss curled Keith’s toes into the sand. “Nnm.” He tilted his head in invitation.

“No? You don’t like it?” Lance’s voice was just as pouty as his lips as he pulled them back away from Keith’s skin and he lifted his head, even though the other man’s head tilted. If Keith was going to say uncute things, he was going to tease him a little. “I’ll stop then.” He probably sounded more dejected than he meant to as he turned his head a little to look out at the ocean, tossing the scissors to the side, where he had dropped a towel on his way over here. He leaned back on his hands, so his chest was no longer against Keith’s back.

“Lance…” Keith whimpered, knowing what the sound of his pleas did to Lance. He scooted back, pressing himself against the other man, letting Lance’s arms support both their weights as he laid back to match his incline.

Lance’s arms wobbled until he shifted to be in a better position to lean back and support Keith’s weight at the same time. “Are you trying to break me?” He pouted. “You say things that makes it sound like you don’t want me to kiss you… Is it because you’re afraid that my family will be upset?”

“When did I say that?” Keith laid his hands on Lance’s thighs, bracing himself as his hips moved to tease back where their bodies pressed together. “I didn’t finish my comment before…” Keith licked his own lips. “I don’t like that you found another spot that makes it easier for you.” The Korean man’s body held no secrets from Lance. A gentle caress, a blow to his ear, a tender nuzzle of his lips at just the right point into his hair and Keith belonged to Lance. His body caved to every touch, obedient to the man who trained and loved it.

“Oh, is that it? I was a little concerned that you think you’re the bunny and I’m the wolf. It’s definitely the other way around. There’s no way I can win against you.” Lance half whispered his words to keep himself from moaning at the way Keith was grinding back against him. “So you do like my kisses? And you want them?”

“Your kisses are what got me here.” Keith whispered. “I’m a wolf?” He turned his head up, sliding it over Lance’s chest. “I thought I was your kitten.” To put emphasis on his words, Keith licked at Lance’s jaw. The contact was brief, a light touch of his tongue. “I only know how to do what you’ve shown me.”

“I definitely didn’t show you how to be this sexy.” Lance turned his head back to him once Keith licked his jaw, and he grinned. “I still haven’t heard you say you like and want my kisses, though. Any more of this and I’m going to be heartbroken.”

“I know what drives you crazy.” Which was true. Keith learned rather quickly the type of partner Lance enjoyed most. He found a fine line between playing innocent and a harlot. Someone who could beg for more yet still be shocked by every touch. Lance liked a vocal partner. He liked hearing his name from a voice on the verge of absolute ecstasy. He liked knowing he caused it. He liked breaking Keith down to a mewling mess before building him up again. Lance wanted a partner who didn’t shy away from experimenting, and who could match or go above his libido. Above all, Lance wanted someone to praise him.

“You’re good.” Keith licked again, nuzzling his nose up as he let go of one of Lance’s thighs to pull the darker man’s head down toward him. “Mm… I love your kisses. Like wasn’t a good enough word. Hmm… your kisses always feel good.”

“Not kissing you does drive me crazy.” Lance whispered before their lips pressed together. “It seriously kills me all day to not touch you or kiss you. And then when we’re alone, and you still deny me…” He licked at Keith’s lips before he shifted their bodies and pulled Keith to straddle his lap, so he could sit up and hold him closer. “It drives me so crazy, I’m not sure I can stop myself from taking you right here.” Keith had to know, right? He had to be aware that since that day in the shop months ago, since their bodies pressed together against that bike, that Lance was completely and utterly his in every way. That his body ached whenever they weren’t together. That holding themselves back for the sake of their others was pushing him to his limit.

Keith looked around the deserted beach, his eyes catching the twilight and reflecting back on Lance when they settled on him again. “What’s stopping you?” He kissed him again, slender fingers pushing into Lance’s hair and gripping gently to tilt his head back as he devoured the sweet cavern of his mouth, still tanged from dinner. “Mmm…” He purred, pulling back his lips.

“Nnn.” Lance’s eyes started to close at the kiss, but when Keith pulled away, they opened again. His hands slid down Keith’s back and rested on the curve of his bottom, squeezing it as he pulled him closer. “Well, do you think anyone’s going to come looking for us? Then again, you always do seem more turned on by the risk of getting caught.” He kissed him again.

“There’s no reason to. And who interrupts two lovers having a romantic interlude on the beach?” Keith whimpered. “Is that so? I hadn’t noticed.” The concept made sense. Keith was an adrenaline junkie. He craved to have that special lace of danger. On the ship he’d attack Lance in the hallways, in common rooms, he even lured the man out to the cargo hold and pleaded for him to take him against the hood of a steamauto. 

“Seems true though.” Keith’s lips progressed down Lance’s neck to the tease of his collar bones. One of his favorite places on Lance’s body to nip.

Lance groaned at the nip and he tilted his head again. “And you always seemed to want it outside since that night we messed around on the bike, so is that it now? A little bit of both?” He moaned and pushed his hips up a bit. “Though we’re not supposed to be lovers, right? Isn’t that how you wanted it for now? That’s why I didn’t introduce you that way. Or are you fine with it finally being official?” He gripped Keith’s ass again and pushed his hips up. “I’m fine with it… Very fine with it.”

“I just wanted air to breathe… Your family is big and warm and excitable. Like you.” Keith nuzzled his lips down the line of his clavicle to Lance’s shirt where he took the collar between his teeth to hide his pout. “I’m not ready to share our moments.” Those large dark eyes focused up on Lance, their gray tones now glittering with the dying sunlight. 

“We don’t have to share our moments…” Lance looked at him with furrowed brows, and he lifted one hand to touch his cheek. “They’re our moments. No one else’s. And here you have all the air to breathe you want. But Keith…” He brushed his thumb over his lower lip. “You…realize my parents figured it out the first day we arrived, right? Why do you think they gave me the cabana and told me to take you there, too? Are you upset about that?”

“I’m not upset about any of it. But the second we say it out loud…” Keith didn’t want to be fussed over. His nerves were still to frayed, and the only hands he could handle on him were Lance’s. “I need more time.” He licked at the thumb against his lip, dropping Lance’s shirt from his teeth as he pulled the digit into mouth. 

“Okay, good. I don’t want to upset you.” It wasn’t like Lance didn’t understand. He did. He knew his family would be very into Keith the moment they vocalized the nature of their friendship. He knew Keith needed his space, and he would give it to him, but there were times when he wanted to take his hand in town. When he wanted to be cute with him, and he couldn’t. So he held it in and cherished these rare moments. Keith didn’t need to be bothered by any of it. “I know what you need.” He murmured and watched Keith’s mouth. “Keith…”

Keith licked down the edge of Lance’s palm, nipping again at the meat of it as he locked his gaze on Lance’s face. “I’ll give you everything you need. I promise. But first I promised you something a while back, didn’t I?”

“I don’t know what you think I need, but okay. But I don’t know which promise you’re referring to now.” There were a lot of things they promised each other, and it took Lance a moment to figure out what Keith was referring to, but when he did, his eyes widened and his cheeks darkened. “H…Here?”

“Is it bad?” Keith dragged his fingers over the sliver of flesh between Lance’s shirt and the top of his pants, exploring the dips and curves of his muscles while dipping below his belt.

“No. No it’s not bad.” Lance’s stomach jumped with each of those gentle touches. His sex hardened at the close proximity of Keith’s hands and the thought of receiving the attention Keith wanted to give him.

“How do I do it?” Keith lifted from Lance’s lap to lay himself against the sand, his lips and nose pressed into the edge of his hip. 

“It’s not hard.” Lance totally squeaked and cleared his throat. “I mean, I’m hard, but doing it isn’t difficult…Use your mouth, just don’t use your teeth.”

A fair request. Keith did like biting. Not hard, but gentle scrapes of his teeth against Lance’s soft skin elicited the sweetest little jerks and sounds from his lover’s mouth. “No teeth.” Keith promised as he worked his nimble fingers to get Lance’s pants off and free his sex to the exposure of the ocean air. His length was hot, and the scent of Lance’s unique musk settled heavily in Keith’s nose, making him whimper.

Lance couldn’t remember the last time his naked flesh was pressed into the sand like this. Each little granule should have annoyed him, but instead the sensation only heightened his excitement. His sex twitched in Keith’s hand, and his eyes locked on that seemingly innocent face that was just a little too close to his heat. “A…Ah…Keith…”

“Just put it in my mouth?” Keith asked, as his fingers gently danced on the hard tight skin. “Or…” He turned his head while keeping his eyes on Lance and licked around the tip, tasting the first few drops of precum. 

“Fuck.” It was a wonder that Lance didn’t just lose it all right then and there. His hand lowered to Keith’s head and he gripped the raven locks, twisting them a little with his fingers.

“So this first?” Keith groaned and picked up on the cue to move his tongue over the flesh. Keith grinned, lavishing the twitching sex, tasting and savoring his lover with slow full tongue licks while coating every part of him with his saliva.

“Keith!” Lance’s voice came out in a pitched whisper, and he gripped his hair more. “Th…That’s. Ah. So…” It was wet and hot, and he really wasn’t sure he could hold on. Not when they had been holding back for so long. “I’m…I’m…”

Keith, the focused and dedicated lover that he was, didn’t hear Lance’s warnings as he wrapped his lips around the head of Lance’s ache, slowly and carefully pushing himself down as his tongue continued to press him up against the top of his mouth.

“AH!” This time he couldn’t hold his voice back as his body gave into the pleasure that came over him. It shouldn’t have happened so quickly. His hips shouldn’t have bucked, his heat shouldn’t have emptied itself as pleasure washed over him. Not this soon. Not this hastily. But it did. Lance orgasmed and tugged on Keith’s hair as soon as his tip hit the roof of Keith’s mouth. 

“Mph!” Keith’s first reaction was to pull away, but Lance kept a firm grip on his hair, keeping the man held down with no choice but swallow what Lance pushed into him. When he finished, and the hands on his head slacked, Keith pulled up, panting and coughing into the back of his hand. Tiny tears pearled in his eyes, threatening to roll down flushed and sun kissed cheeks. He needed to catch his breath. He hadn’t been hurt, just inexperienced.

“Was that right?” Keith asked when his head cleared. It came out too innocent as he licked the taste of his lover sex from his lips.

“How….can you ask that? I should be asking you if you’re okay.” Lance panted, and fell backwards onto the sand, his arm coming up over his eyes. “I’ve never cum so quickly before.” He managed as his body still twitched with the aftershocks of his pleasure. “So embarrassing…”

Keith crawled over him, his head cocked to the side, his confidence waning. “Should I have done something different?”

“No. No it was amazing. I’m just…” Lance’s cheeks darkened as he looked at him. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I mean I couldn’t really warn you.”

“I’m fine.” Keith lowered down and nuzzled his face back against Lance’s neck, his hand sneaking up into his shirt. “I’m glad I was able to do that for you.”

“Next time I’ll try to last longer, so you can do more.” Lance murmured and kissed the top of Keith’s head. 

“Mmm.” Keith left the smallest of kisses against his neck, his long lashes brushing against his skin with every flutter. “Can we do more?” He pressed himself against Lance’s leg. 

“Yes.” Lance whispered and reached for Keith’s pants. “As much as you want.” His fingers brushed against the flesh of his hips as he pushed the fabric over them. 

“Nnm… Motto…” Keith whispered, accenting the Japanese with suck at Lance’s ear lobe. He knew what he was doing, and a part of him was proud of it.

“Nnn. Lube.” Lance pushed those pants down enough to free Keith, and he wasted no time in wrapping his hand around his sex. “Do…you still always carry some?”

“My hip pack.” Keith kissed before the pressure of Lance’s hand around him caused his head to burrow into his shoulder. 

Lance’s free hand fumbled for the pack and the lube as he worked his lover, his own body responding to each of Keith’s subtle movements against him. 

“Nnn… Lance…” Keith loved the way Lance’s hands felt. The rough callouses added the perfect amount of friction to otherwise silk soft skin. He praised every god he could think of for the former soldier’s long hours of training and farm work for providing that pleasured filled touch. 

“Kiss me and tell me what you want me to do to you.” Lance murmured as his hand moved over Keith’s sex a little faster, half lidded eyes looking at the other man. Each of Keith’s words sounded like they were laced with such desperation that Lance just wanted to hear more of them.

“What I want you to do?” Keith rutted his hips against Lance’s hand. “I want you… to stretch me out…” Keith flushed darker. “Make ready to take you.” 

“So you want me to let go of you, or do you want to come first?” Lance smirked and moved his hand faster, trying to make Keith make more of those cute sounds.

“L-let me come.” Keith’s face burned hot with the words leaving his lips.

“I’m not stopping you from coming, Keith.” Lance whispered. “Kiss me.”

Keith leaned up and crushed their lips together, pulling away for a second as their tongues twisted against each fighting for dominance. He pressed in again, winning the skirmish while pushing a whimper between them. His seed spilling into Lance’s hand.

“Good.” Lance half panted, half murmured against Keith’s lips before he tugged on the bottom one with his teeth. He smeared some of the evidence of Keith’s pleasure against that pale stomach before he slid his hand around behind him again. “And you want to be ready for me?” He smirked. 

“Yeah.” Keith nodded as lifted his hip up, making it easier for Lance to reach him without having to give up his lips. “I want to be ready for you.” He kissed him again, not bothered by the warmth of the beach or the clothing still cover his body.

Lance pushed those pants down as much as he could before he coated his fingers and slid one digit into Keith, eyes darkening. “You’ll have to move for me. It’s a little difficult on the sand like this.” He kissed him and smirked against his lips. “Will you be able to do that for me?”

“Move? Yeah, I can.” Keith pushed down on his finger, rocking his hips slowly as he took the first then second finger easily, his body still soft and pliant under Lance’s knowing caress and long digits.

“Good.” Lance moved his fingers as well as he could in their position. He was the only thing keeping the sand from getting everywhere. At least everywhere on the more delicate parts of Keith. “You’re so sexy when you do that.”

“Sexy? Eng!” Keith didn’t care if he was sexy, all he wanted to get those fingers deeper, feeling them touch places with the sole purpose of shattering him and making him beg for more. He balanced himself up on one arm, his head bowed forward as he kept moving mewling his lover’s name.

“Nnn. Yes, very sexy. I like it. It makes me hotter for you.” Lance pushed his hips up a little as if that could add to Keith’s eager movement on his fingers. “I want you so badly right now.”

“AH!” Keith’s back bowed down as his head shot up as one finger found his sweetest spot. “Lance!”

“Oooh, you like that, don’t you?” Lance grinned and pulled his fingers out of him. “Sounds like you’re ready for me.”

Keith lifted himself enough and reached back to line Lance up to his opening, moving his hand over him to cover him in slick. “A.. are you ready?”

“I’m always ready for you, Keith, you know that.” Lance grinned and pushed his sex into Keith’s hand. “I’m yours.”

“Ah.. fu.. ah!” Keith held in the curse as Lance’s thrust pushed the tip into Keith and the smaller man followed through by pushing his weight down. “I nee… I need you…AH!”

“Then take as much as you need.” Lance slid his hands over Keith’s thighs and let his lover set their pace.

“Ah.” Keith settled on Lance’s lap taking the last bit of the man inside. “How are you this hot… its… mn…” He leaned forward and took Lance’s mouth again, moaning as his hips moved and rocked, making sure Lance could feel the deepest parts of him on every thrust.

Lance would have tried to answer him, but Keith devoured his mouth, and all he could do was moan into the kiss as his lover’s body surrounded him.

“Lance…” Keith moaned his name, as he pushed Lance’s shirt up to expose more of that perfect stomach and broad lean chest. His body tightened as his eyes memorized every line, curve, and twitching muscle.

Lance grunted and moved his body only enough to keep Keith as protected from the sand as he could. “Keith…you feel so good.” He moaned and kissed him.

“Ah! Eng.” Keith turned his head into own shoulder, the shorter locks of his hair bouncing and moving with every quiver. The style accentuated the elfin sharpness of his features down to the long pale slope of his neck, and the raven mane no longer hid the curve of his tattoo over his shoulder. Before it would have scared. Before he would have been looking for anything to help cover it up, but no one cared here.

Lance eyed that delectable neck and the hint of that tattoo for a moment before he moved enough to pull Keith’s shirt up. “Nnn. Let’s get this off. Let me see you.”

Keith lifted the thin shirt over his head, his arms getting trapped behind his back as he continued to pierce himself on Lance’s heat. Unwilling to pull away from his pleasure he leaned back to brace against his lover’s thighs.

Lance’s eyes darkened and immediately leaned in and kissed Keith’s neck, one hand sliding down his chest and over his stomach, his fingers gentle as though touching the most delicate porcelain. “You drive me crazy.” He moaned and pushed his hips up to meet each of Keith’s movements. His other hand rested on Keith’s waist, keeping steady as best he could while Keith rocked them together.

“Ah!” Keith cursed Lance in his head for his timing and knowing exactly where to attack. A cry didn’t have a time to escape his mouth as his hips bucked and pressed tight to Lance. His thighs closed around tan hips in a spasm of ecstasy, coming between their stomachs.

Lance had no complaints as his body joined Keith in releasing his pleasure. He moaned against that soft neck and tried to hold Keith steady as they both rode it out. And when he was done, he carefully slid from Keith, though he did not let go of him for a second.

Keith buried his nose into Lance’s hair, panting against the silk fine threads. “I love you…”

“Mmm. Good. I would be sad if you didn’t.” Lance mumbled against his neck. “It really sucks when the person you love doesn’t love you back. And I love you a lot.”

“Sap.” Keith whispered fondly into the cinnamon honey hair, nuzzling by his ear and letting the weariness weigh his body down into slump against his shoulder. 

“Yeah but you love me, so what does that make you?” Lance chuckled and felt even more comfort when Keith trusted him with his weight like that, especially with how his arms were stuck in his shirt. “You know…I’m going to need to rinse all this sand off…and out of places.”

“Mm-hmm.” Keith hummed into his ear. “Are you asking me to get up?”

“Yes, once we untangle you.” Lance whispered, groaning. “Come in the water with me…”

“You know, the last time you dropped me in the ocean, it didn’t go so well.” Keith added ‘rip tide’ to a short list of terrifying things, earning its place below ‘spiders’. He knew how to swim. In fact, he enjoyed swimming, but the vast emptiness of the ocean and the sudden drag of the tide on his body scared him enough the first time he clung to Lance’s shoulders until the surfer boy brought him back into shore. “You won’t let me go?”

“I know. And I won’t let you go. The water is calmer now. There is nothing to worry about.” Lance smiled. “And we won’t swim. We will only go waist deep to wash up, okay? You can trust me.” He kissed Keith and licked at his lips, before reaching behind him to get his shirt off the rest of the way.

“Thanks.” Keith blushed, standing up, he’d forgotten he bound himself in the heat of the moment. 

Lance rose to his feet and dusted as much extra sand off himself as he could, but then he stretched and pulled the rest of his clothing off. “The water should be nice.” He held his hand out to Keith. 

Keith followed Lance’s example, taking his hand to avoid staring into the now inky black depths. He trembled and found himself hugging his arm. He didn’t mean to. Keith had no defenses in the water. His swimming was average, but his lion was powerless in the depths, and every step he took into the waves was a lesson in humility.

“Trust me.” Lance whispered as he led Keith down to the edge of the water. He always loved the way the wet sand squished between his toes. He wiggled them a little before he took slow steps into the water, trying to keep it at Keith’s pace, but also moving at a decent enough speed that Keith wouldn’t have too much time to freak himself out. “I won’t let you go.”

“I trust you. I don’t trust that.” Keith pointed to the water, glaring at it as if it were a living thing. When the waves pulled back and he felt that first gentle tidal tug he pressed his face to Lance’s arm. This side of the red lion was only for Lance. A side who willingly showed fear. A side who wanted to be coddled. These moments had been given freely to Lance, Keith’s own way of showing the taller man how much he was willing to open up for him.

Lance stopped and shook his head. “If we go a little deeper, you won’t feel it. That’s just the pull cause we’re barely in the water.” He helped him in until they were knee deep. “See?” He kept a good hold on Keith and let him move as he needed to, though he did kiss his shoulder once in an attempt to reassure him.

Keith shook his head. “I know. Just… don’t let go.” He was embarrassed by his own cowardice, but the fire wielder couldn’t help the unease of surrounding himself within his elemental foil. 

“I won’t. Just a little more okay?” He kept moving slowly, finally stopping when they were waist deep. “This should feel a little calmer.” He kept hold of Keith’s hand and smiled at him. “But if you still hate it, I can take you back and just wash up myself.”

“We’re already this far.” Lance had been right. Keith didn’t feel the pull on is body anymore, and a bit of courage came back to him until he took one step out and found the sandbars drop off. There was a scramble back to Lance’s his arms and he clung to his shoulders again, his legs wrapping around the taller man’s waist with the water’s buoyancy to aid him.

Lance chuckled and wrapped his arms around Keith, holding him up. “That’s why I said waist deep. It’s not much deeper there, but it’s deep enough that you’d be up to your neck. You’re not ready for that.” He kissed Keith’s nose and grinned, but his hold on the smaller man let him know he was safe in his arms.

“I can swim! Japan does have lakes! This… this is… different.” The pout on Keith’s lips off set the furrow of his brow. “This is stupid.”

“I know it’s different, but it’s not stupid. It’s bigger and darker than what you’re used to.” Lance held him a little closer and nuzzled his cheek. “But look at how the horizon looks, even in the moonlight. Look at the way the waves gently rock against us and the shore. And soon there will be dolphins off in the distance. Sometimes we take the boat out there to see them.” If he could distract Keith well enough from his fears, this would get easier each time they came in the water.

Keith stared up at Lance as he spoke, feeling a calm settle over him as he turned around to see the sky and the ocean stretch on until they met where the rising moon kissed the water’s surface. His feet settled on the ground, his toes digging into the sand. “Dolphins?”

“Yes. There are a lot of animals and fish that live in this water.” Lance kept his arms around him and smiled. “And I will show everything to you.” He leaned down as he spoke, his lips moving against his ear. “I will make sure you love it here.”

Keith’s eyes fluttered as he settled his weight back, the fear had melted away with the soft baritone whisper in his ear. “I do love it here. You’re here. Everyone and Pidge with Sam is slowly getting better.”

“If you love it so much, then you won’t ever leave me, hm?” Lance kissed his ear once before he smiled at him. 

“You’re still worried about that?” Keith arched a thick brow. “I’m a fire user, and I’m out in the middle of the ocean refusing to back to shore because I don’t want to leave you. Am I going to have to get you another tattoo to prove how stuck with me you are?”

“I will be a little worried about that until the day I die.” Lance held him a little closer and turned Keith in his arms so he could look at him better. “Because you are so far out of my league it’s not even funny. Because you’re smart, kind, beautiful, sexy, and damn good at satisfying me.” He kissed him and licked at his lips. “I won’t let you go.”

“If you’re going to put me on a pedestal that high.” Keith kissed him back. “make sure it’s as close to yours as possible so I can just step over.” 

“Oh? There’s no way I’m out of your league you know. You could have anyone you wanted.”

“I don’t care about anyone else.”

“You mean you don’t want anyone else. I know you care about others. I wouldn’t be so jealous if you didn’t care.” Lance kissed him again.

Keith wrapped a dripping arm around Lance’s shoulders. “There’s no one else in this world that could make me feel even remotely one bit of what I feel for you. No leagues, no pedestals, no competing. Right now, it’s you and me.” Keith kissed him again. “You see this?” Keith drew a circle in the water, successfully surrounding them. “Nothing exists outside of that.”

“You’re so cute, I can’t handle it.” Lance kissed him and held him closer. “You are my world, Keith. I would do anything to keep you happy and safe.” He smiled against his lips before kissing him again. “And I am trying my best. I think it’s working. We’re safe here, and I think we’re happy here.”

“I’m happy.” Keith smiled, and titled his head up. Within the glow of the moon light, his pale skin became iridescent. “Because of you.” 

“Good. You’re also messy because of me.” Lance chuckled and started to move his hand down to brush Keith’s stomach clean before moving to get the sand off himself as best as he could.

“I might have had a hand in it.” Keith let Lance hold him, his head laying against his shoulder as he gave in to the gentle touches and sweet whispers.

“A hand, a mouth, whatever.” Lance chuckled and finished cleaning them both off. “That should be good enough for now.” He kissed him once more before he whispered. “Some night we’ll have to come back out here and enjoy ourselves a little more, hm?”

“Whenever you want.” Keith nuzzled into his lips. “We’re free to do anything.”

“When you’re more comfortable out here, I’m going to fuck the hell out of you.” Lance chuckled and took his hands. “But for now, let’s just go get our clothes on and head back inside hm?”

“Lance!” Keith whimpered but smiled. “We’ll see. Maybe I’ll want to see this beautiful complexion squirming in the moonlight.” Keith brought Lance’s hand to his lips, licking the salt water from a knuckle wiggling one playful eyebrow before he darted ahead of him to the shore. He stopped at their sand covered clothes and sighed. Putting them back on would have defeated the purpose of rinsing off.

“Guess we’ll just have to soak when we get back. Hm?”

Lance looked at the state of their clothing and laughed. “Guess so. Can’t say I mind.” He caught up to Keith and pulled him back into his arms, kissing him once before picking up their discarded clothes and the towel and scissors he brought out there. He glanced over his shoulder at Keith and smirked. “Guess you’re just going to have to settle for watching me saunter back to the cabana in the moonlight.”

“I’ll find a way to survive.” Keith ran up to behind him and kissed the slope and curve of his shoulder. “Can this really be our lives now?”

"Of course it can. It already is.” Lance smiled at him. “For as long as you want.”

“Forever seems long enough, though I might want more. I’m selfish.” Pale arms wrapped around Lances waist, pressing the taller man back against him. 

"Then let me give you more than forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for sticking with us and reading the story! We appreciate every one of you for the time and dedication you've put into reading our story. You've all been great and supportive! Please continue to let us know how you feel about Camellia's Patina! Like, Share, Kudo, comment!!! We love talking with the readers!
> 
> A special thank you to all the artists who have done work for this story. You are all fantastic and amazing people who have inspired us with every chapter!
> 
> To see our new work please check out  
> [Stars Shine Only in the Sky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14495520/chapters/33486438)  
> Imprisoned and doomed to be sent to the Galran slave planet Dema, Keith sees an opportunity to change the outcome of a few poor life choices. In the back streets there's nothing better than a win-win.
> 
> A potential set of one-shots involving Galra Keith and Altean Lance.


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